The Will of The Dead
by mistarrymistress
Summary: Kikyo is dead... yet she feels and lives like someone alive. Who is she, after all? A woman or a priestess? A mostly philosophical focus on the KikyoKagome !non romantic! link. My first fanfic!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anyone else who happens to be in Inuyasha la-la land.

AN: Ok, it's my first fanfic… enjoy or don't enjoy… it depends. Anyway here it is so you might as well give reading it a shot.

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**The Will of the Dead**

- mistarrymistress

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PROLOGUE

If you're dead then you're dead. Right? You should be in complete oblivion. Nothing to feel, no regrets, no hurt, and no attachments. No memories.

Then why was she here? She had had her shot at life. And… blew it miserably. But still…

_To live is to die. To die is to live. _

Why was that haunting song especially true for her? What was so special about her that the gods gave her another chance? Or was it not of the gods, but of Destiny itself?

Was her clay and bone body really the only thing that set her apart from the living? If she got a living body, would she be able to live normally? Start over? No. She knew that she could never forget, never be who she once was. Yet she longed. Longed to be truly alive. Though she was already in the realm of the living, her body and soul were dead. It was only her heart, which she did not have, that still burned with the dreams and feelings of a living person.

_I think too much. _Kikyo shook her head and continued on her lonely path. She didn't stop thinking these days. She had travelled the whole day, but she didn't feel tired, or sore. When her feet struck a sharp rock, she didn't notice. What do you expect with a clay body?

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	2. A Little Friend

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

AN: I know I take a long time to get to the point. And a long time to update. Sorry for any frustration this might cause you guys. Even though I haven't even written it yet, maybe you should just start reading at chapter 5 or something.

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CHAPTER 1: A LITTLE FRIEND

The bird gave a last weakened protest, before falling into the air, bereaved of one of its wings. Blood was beginning to seep from the wound and it was going to die. The demon that had caused the injury swooped down in a circle and snatched the dying bird up in its jaws, meaning to take the half-live prey back to the nest and feed her to the younglings.

But before that could happen, a shining arrow pierced the demon's neck and reduced it to a thousand glowing particles of light. The unconscious little bird fell down, only to land in the outstretched hands of the archer.

Kikyo did not know why she chose to save this particular bird. She had seen a hundred others come to the same end since her revival.

_Technically this bird was already dead…_ But even as she thought this, the bird in her moon-white hands gave a little splutter. Kikyo's eyes widened as she came back from her thoughts. She set the little bird - it was a sparrow – down on a nearby rock, as she gathered little strips of cloth to bandage the frail little thing.

Having managed to stop the blood from escaping the wound, Kikyo gave the sparrow a little sip of water from a stream nearby.

_I'll have to carry a water skin from now on. _Even as she thought this, Kikyo did not even realise she thought of the little sparrow as her companion already.

She walked slowly throughout the whole night, hoping not to disturb her sleeping companion, who lay just inside her robe, and with each breath she could feel each heartbeat, knowing that the sparrow will never feel hers.

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	3. Food Matters

Disclaimer: This is the last time. I don't own Inuyasha.

AN: I myself have no idea where this story is going, so let's just hope wherever it's going, it's going to get there interestingly, and quickly. sigh I have a real problem of getting to the point.

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CHAPTER 2: FOOD MATTERS

"What's for dinner?"

"I believe it's something tasty that Kagome's most esteemed mother made." Miroku happily took the chance to leer at Sango and got a slap to the face.

"That's if Inuyasha didn't already finish it all off, you mean," grumbled Shippo.

"HEY! Come here, you rude, ungrateful –"

"INUYASHA! Don't pick on Shippo!" Kagome yelled. "And Shippo, don't provoke him. Or I won't save you next time."

"Yes you will. Bet you those chips in your bag that you will." Inuyasha said, and gave the air a satisfied sniff. "Those chips are already mine."

"Oh really?" Kagome got the said chips out of her bag.

"And what if I do this? Miroku, Sango, Shippo! Do you guys want to share these?"

"Yes please!" Miroku yelled, and was first to open the bag.

"Yum… there are some that are whole, too! You must have kept them at the top of the bag so they didn't get crushed." Sango said.

"Aw poor little Inu, he didn't get any…" Shippo said, and gave Inuyasha a bright smile.

"Here it comes..." Kagome shook her head.

Inuyasha gave a growl, bared his teeth and set off to bash Shippo up.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said you wouldn't interfere. Shippo's going to be one unhappy kid after this…" Sango thoughtfully stared at the two forms running around, one screaming for Kagome and the other yelling death curses.

"I don't know… I guess he has to learn sometime that he can't just provoke Inuyasha all the time." Kagome stood beside Sango, as Miroku finished off the last of the bag.

Miroku joined them and cleared his throat. "However true that may be, Kagome, I still believe that Inuyasha must also learn that he can't jump at Shippo's throat every time."

"You're right." Kagome gave a sad sigh. "Inuyasha, SIT!"

A familiar crash could be heard for a mile around as the ground suddenly came up to meet Inuyasha.

Shippo gave an evil cackle and bounded back to the adults.

Inuyasha painstakingly got off the ground. "Gah. The next bag is mine. Remember that, Kagome."

"Whatever, Inuyasha. Just get some firewood for tonight." Kagome gave a disdainful sniff and turned away.

"Feh. Humans."

Sango tried to suppress her smile at the cuteness of the whole quarrel, and failed.

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AN: I tried to make this chapter funny. I hope it was. fingers crossed My chapters are really short. I just noticed that. Sorry guys, I will TRY to get them into a decent size. And if I don't, there's always the next fanfic… 


	4. Interlude

A/N: Sorry for the long time no-up-datey. I'm sorta banned off the Internet for a week… maybe two… well anyway, I'm not one for long intros, so here's the story:

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CHAPTER 3: INTERLUDE

The sun was just starting to rise as the odd group awoke, and prepared for the day's journey ahead of them.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Inuyasha, must your mind always be focused on food?" The monk straightened and did a little stretch.

"Well… the food that I brought with me has run out. We'll have to get more." Kagome's bright smile signified that she, at least, was awake and ready to go.

"I wonder whose fault that was… That food could have lasted a week if everybody stuck to their rations." The early morning did not stop Inuyasha and Shippo having their one-sided fight.

Everyone else took longer to properly awake. Kirara shook her fluffy tails out, gave a delighted purr and went along to the river with Miroku and Sango to catch some fish.

_It looks like it's going to be a good day… _Kagome thought as she had some time alone to herself. The sun was now properly up in the sky and after breakfast they should get going fast. As she got the fire for the fish going, Kagome sat back and decided to enjoy Japan as it is before the industrialists got a hold of it. The woods several kilometres away from her looked dark, old and menacing, even in the daylight. Even so, she still could not help admiring their grandiose manner, the way the seemed _alive_, so much unlike the trees in all the modern cities she's been to.

As she was looking down at the woods, she could see a silvery glimmer near the edge. She blinked, _what was that?_ She leaned forward, hoping to see it again. But nothing was there. _Oh well. Probably some minor demon… It's pretty far away still-_

"Kagome! Have you got that fire going yet?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, the fire." She grinned sheepishly. She had forgotten all about breakfast in her little break admiring the forest.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

No sunlight could get through the dense canopy, but still Kikyo could tell that dawn had come. She could feel the sun's warmth and light calling all living things to rise, accidentally inviting her as well, in its unknowing way.

The sparrow chirped a greeting on her shoulder, as yet unaware of her dark mood. _He'll catch on soon enough._ So far he had been great at predicting her disposition. "Hane." Kikyo murmured. A replying chirp ensued from the newly christened bird.

"I'll call you Yasei-Hane." Kikyo lifted a finger to her shoulder, offering it to the bird. 'Wild-wing' jumped lightly onto the perch, ruffling his only wing and singing three notes, to show her what he thought of the name.

Kikyo's expression, though, was still as cold as her body. She was waiting for her scouts to come back with news. She could feel not only the Sacred Jewel nearby, but also a familiar aura, so much like her own that she could not ignore it.

Unmistakably Kagome… And she probably had Inuyasha tagging happily along.

_It isn't fair. Every day I wander trying to fulfil an unknown Fate, just waiting till Hell is ready to take me and that little… IMITATION of mine gets to live MY life instead of me… Why couldn't the gods leave my soul the way it was? _

Kikyo ground her teeth together in agitation. She knew the answer to her own question perfectly: because her soul was not willing to rest peacefully. And neither was she. Obviously Fate had decided to even out her hate and grief with Kagome's love and happiness. Lucky her. Of course, the more she hated and despaired, the happier her little copy was getting. She wondered if Kagome even knew all this.

But there WILL be an end to this. Soon there will be. With or without Inuyasha, Kikyo was going to go where she was meant to in her first life. Surely that was another reason why she got sent back. Even though her resurrection was a demoness' doing, the whole business had the slight taint of Godly intervention. And Kikyo didn't like it.

Finally a flash of silver told her from far off her Soul Stealers were back. She moved forward to meet them. They swarmed around her, enshrouding her in shiny gleaming streamlined bodies. They whispered silently to her, telling her of where they had been, what they had seen.

"I was right." She told Hane, who had hopped away. He didn't like being any closer to her Soul Stealers than he had to be. Something about them triggered his sparrow instincts.

"Chiri?" This was Hane's favourite word. His only word, actually. With different variations on the intonation he made his thoughts clear. This time it was a puzzled 'chiri'.

"Inuyasha and Kagome. They're just outside of the forest borderline. We better get going if we want to avoid them." Kikyo dismissed her Soul Stealers with a wave of her hand, and held out a finger to Hane. He hopped on, slightly misjudging the distance, and ended up grappling with her finger for a hold, flapping his remaining wing and looking overall utterly ridiculous.

Kikyo could not help letting out a half-suppressed laugh. The sound surprised both her and Hane. "Chiri…" Hane sang accusingly.

"What? Aren't I allowed to laugh?"

"Chiri!" No.

"I guess you're right…" Kikyo shook her head, half still surprised, half sad. Yasei sat on her shoulder like a warden of the strangely mad, looking very determined at his new job as Kikyo-keeper.

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A/N: Now I get on with the actual notes. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU people for reviewing. Just thought you deserved a mention for your valiant reviewing deeds. If everyone could just be really nice and follow their example, it'd be great:

Rainykitty (ha.. I'll try to keep writing...)

Soul Tiger (yes it is sad)

SonnyGoten (MAJOR thanks. Your reply came at a good time when I was having doubts about my very short writing career. I hope I don't disappoint you or anything)


	5. 180 Degrees in a Straight Line

A/N: Ok… at least I've got DETAILS on some aspects of the story which I intend to stick to… so I am about a hundredth closer to full completion of the story plot than I was um, before. Yeah. Enjoy. Please.

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CHAPTER 4: 180 Degrees in a Straight Line

Kikyo carefully sidestepped a dead warrior on her path. A sickening smell from up ahead told her that he wasn't the only one. Some warriors must have been here at least long enough to smell.

"Chiriiii…" the soft chirp was barely heard, even above the silent monotony of the forest.

Kikyo did not answer. She wasn't sure if it required an answer. She simply offered Yasei her hand to softly peck, as was his habit when he was worried. He tugged at her skin nervously, as her footsteps brought her closer and closer to the edge of the forest, so devastatingly close to where her Soul Stealers had reported Inuyasha and his group.

She knew they would be here soon, she knew that even when she first heard the retreating calls of the armies. But for some reason, as was her habit when she was alive, even now when she is dead, she could not just leave people in suffering, though there probably weren't any here.

Coming to the edge of the forest and looking at the vast devastation, she realised there wasn't anyone that could even remotely be alive. Everything, every corpse was covered with a charred black layer of steaming soot. The smell was truly revolting, but now she could see why: the burnt human flesh smelt like it was just another animal being cooked for lunch. This place is going to be infested with demons very soon, and maybe even some desperate humans. The wind was strong; the smell is going to spread fast.

Kikyo snapped her fingers, and her ever ready Soul Stealers gathered. "One of you go, and keep me informed of Inuyasha's group's location." The nearest to her was dispatched, and glided effortlessly over the wet grass back into the forest.

Just then a breeze blew over the battlefield, and Kikyo did not like what she felt in it. First of all, she could tell Inuyasha was… oh, maybe 10 metres away? Secondly, something big was coming. Very big. Huge, really. Monstrous.

Yasei didn't like it either. He hopped nervously, but didn't budge from Kikyo's shoulder. Kikyo got her bow and arrow down. She was going to need them if she was getting out of this still walking. Not quite alive, but at least she'd still be in her half-life.

"KIKYO!" A cry resounded from Kikyo's left. "Get out of here! Can't you feel it?" She didn't bother responding. Whatever it was, it was coming fast and needed all her concentration. Looks like she didn't need her Soul Stealer after all.

Although Kikyo wasn't looking at them, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo had appeared on a little elevated hill to her far left. Inuyasha had started making his way over to her. She knew this, and her face arranged into a slight smile. It wasn't a nice smile though, and Yasei apparently knew this. He opened his beak as far as it would go and clamped it shut on the edge of her ear. She decided to ignore it too.

Just then the dense canopy was pushed apart, to reveal a ravenous-looking overgrown bear-ish demon. It had scales on its limbs, and was altogether the size of a very ugly little mountain. Muttering an unneeded prayer under her breath, Kikyo released her arrow and quickly drew another one just in case. As she drew her arrow, her gaze wandered past Inuyasha and over to his little band. One, two, three, four… minus Inuyasha… Where was The Reincarnation?

Quickly her eyes wandered back to her arrow. It was only moments since she let it fly. Her eyes tracked its flight, her heart dying all over as she guessed what was to come. The thin line of shining light was flying in arc, descending, straight into the heart of the monster demon. Instead of going straight through, it stopped halfway, as if barred.

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Kagome was out of breath. First Inuyasha detected Kikyo and left her behind; then she felt an unknown Jewel presence and had to hurry anyway, no matter how badly she didn't want to. So, when she stopped sulking and went back to camp, she saw that everyone had gone with Inuyasha. Traitors. There was no way she was going to be happy after this. She hoped that once she reached the Jewel perpetrator she'd have Sango with her at least.

Now as she approached the edge of the forest, a smell like burnt meat reached her nostrils. She had not seen as many massacres as Kikyo, so she did not know what it meant. She simply reached back for an arrow and ignored it. The ground was shaking from the footsteps of the demon with the Jewel. There was no way anything that size could be anything but a demon. As she rounded a bend in the lightly worn path, she glimpsed the ugly scaled side of the demon. She stopped and took a breath, drew back her bow and fired.

Like Kikyo, she followed her missile with her eyes. It just so happened that at the same time that Kikyo saw her arrow stop, so did Kagome. However, unlike Kikyo, she had no idea what had caused it. Kagome gasped, thinking that if she didn't get another arrow quick, the monster was going to turn around and find her.

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Sango had been standing and watching the whole time. She had seen the two arrows rise in a delicate shining curved arch, then level, perfect reflections of each other. But which was the reflection of the other? Or were they both simply just parallel beings that co-existed with one another? One thing was for sure: the Bear Mountain fellow wasn't getting out of this alive.

She was right. The arrows, suspended in the air, formed a perfectly straight line, and shone brighter. The bear had no time to even let out a dying growl, when its body disintegrated into many shining particles that rose up into the sky. Only one pink fragment fell to the ground. The two arrows, growing subsequently brighter with each moment in the air, remained hanging. Time seemed to stop. Kikyo seemed frozen along with Time, but her thoughts were racing. What did her studies tell her about situations like this? When a replica and an original priestess both shot Holy Arrows into the air, killing a demon with the Sacred Jewel, and the arrows remained there for an indefinite amount of time? This was not making sense.

Sango, Miroku and Shippo all had dropped their jaws to about the height of their chin. "This isn't normal, is it, Monk?" "I don't think so…"

Kirara growled in agreement and Shippo squinted harder.

Kagome fumbled with her arrow when the light in front of her brightened. She turned around, and saw two arrows suspended and making a very straight line. All her brain could come up with was recent study material for her Maths exams: a straight line was 180 degrees….

Inuyasha stared. _Two _Holy Arrows? Together? And then his thoughts took a different path altogether. _Kagome's going to hate me… I just ran off at the slightest hint of Kikyo. I don't envy that demon right now.

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_

A/N: Before I kill myself with the suspense, I SHALL try and get the next happy chappy (chapter) up and written. Hmm, I just realised something very, very important. Somewhere in Ch 1/Prologue I said if you wanted to read this where something is actually HAPPENING, maybe you should just skip to Ch 5!! I was right!

I'm strangely happy after this rather sad scene. How can burning human flesh make me happy?

Anyway, dear readers, bear in mind your reviews really help and that none fall on a closed mind. No, they actually fly right up to my eyes and say, "Look at me, I'm a review!! Read me! I'm really good!"

Also remember that I too have no idea (well… some… but still) where this is going and I am actually enjoying it just as much as a hypothetical reader would. Goshy, this is EXCITING!

**SonnyGoten**: Keep sending me questions. They make my brain generate random unrelated details that don't really make sense but are GOOD. And wow! A sorta-long-ish chapter!

**Soul Tiger**: You wound me… sniff sniff… NAH just kidding! I shall have to work harder. Yes. I shall. And yes the main reason I started this fanfic was because Kikyo DID need a friend!!! Thanks for picking that up!

**rainykitty**: aw thank you!!!!!! I made Kikyo bearable?? Sniff sniff. This time I'm sniffy because I'm happy. But you know, I do try to even it out… All that resentment and ill-will towards Inuyasha will be punished later on. IF she doesn't redeem herself first…


	6. Full Revolution

A/N: Thanks to all of you for reviewing, those who did! Now I hope you will find this interesting (and slightly confusing) just as I did. AND I now have a general direction in which to steer this story. Which is thankful, to say the least.

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CHAPTER 5: Full Revolution

_A straight line was 180 degrees, and a full revolution was 360_. Another useless fact popped into Kagome's head. Though it wasn't irrelevant; out of nowhere the two arrows, as if they were in fact one straight line, started spinning around in a circle on the spot, faster and faster, of their own volition, till they were a blinding circle made of priestess-magic shining in the air.

At this point Time seemed to desert that area completely. Birdcalls and sounds were coming from far away, but nearby there was nothing to be heard.

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Kikyo wondered if she was the only one to notice that the arrows were spinning anticlockwise. _Is that an omen?_

Her Soul Stealers were now frantically jerking and twisting, no longer the calm streamlined selves they once were. Their bodies twisted and contorted, until finally each and every one popped into a million shining fragments.

Meanwhile the arrows were still spinning, going faster and faster.

The landscape around the group began to change and twist, just as the Soul Stealers had. Strangely enough, with all this magic flying around, the actual group of demons and humans and half-breed remained unchanged. The two arrows could no longer be made out. They were spinning so fast it looked like there was only one circle, motionless.

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Sango shuddered. Everything was happening so fast. It had only been half a minute before that the two arrows had been shot. And now… everything around them was disintegrating. Why? Her eyes drifted back to the circle, hanging, now motionless, in the air. It too, started to change just like everything around them.

But it didn't do so for long. Now it jerked one way, towards Kikyo, and then jerked the other way, towards Kagome. Finally it seemed to make up its mind, and separated into two arrows again, each heading for a different archer.

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_What??? _

This was too weird. First her arrow stopped, then it started spinning, and now the two separated again, and one was flying straight towards her! Kagome didn't have time to scream, only time to shut her eyes at the coming bolt of light.

Kikyo stood, slightly dazed, as Kagome's – she could tell – arrow headed straight for her. As it penetrated first her robes, then her 'heart', she could feel a strange sort of… warm-ness… that she had only felt before when she was alive.

She didn't notice this, because she was busy being shot through the heart, but her beloved Yasei was nowhere to be seen. Silence reigned.

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A/N: I KNOW this chapter was short, extremely confusing, and a long time coming, but I promise there IS a point to all this. 

And to all those questions, dear reviewers, I'd just like to say – what happens next won't explain everything, but it can try.

And also, to all those people thinking Yasei is evil – he's NOT!!!! He's just really cute, mysterious, and way smarter than anyone else in this story. Yep. That's all at the moment.


	7. Vanishing Point

AN: Just bear with me, guys. This is going to get even weirder, and then it's going to get normal again. And excuse ANY (most) mistakes where I go against the storyline or whatever, because I do make a Lot of things up, and just guess or the rest. My knowledge of Inuyasha is not as complete as I'd like it to be. But I'm enjoying it anyway.

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CHAPTER 6: VANISHING POINT

Just as Kikyo's arrow pierced her own beating heart, Kagome could feel the same thing happening to Kikyo. She opened her eyes and could see Kikyo's own eyes looking straight back at her. The cold glare was gone, the dead feeling she always had – wasn't there either. She was no longer the dead priestess Kikyo with her Soul Stealers swarming around her, she was just – Kikyo.

The silence that had reigned for so long – was now broken. Not by anyone who could be considered a sentient being, but Yasei-Hane. Though how such a small frail creature could give such a bloodcurdling cry was beyond anyone present. At his cry, two things happened in rapid succession. Firstly, both arrows were gone. Just gone.

Miroku stared, and thought, _what on Earth…_

Secondly, Kikyo and Kagome, who were just about to topple over from the force of the arrows, also vanished.

Sango stared too, and was incapable of composing a straight thought.

The wind blew through the forest towards them, bringing fresh smells, so different to the slaughterhouse odour. Yasei lifted his one wing and was carried in the light breeze, by some unknown power. For a long time after that, the only things to disturb the vanishing point were a few dry leaves, carried by the same strange wind.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Arrrhhhh…." Kikyo muttered, rolling over and spitting out a few twigs and leaves that had gotten into her mouth. Kneeling, she could see Kagome lying motionless across from her, just a few feet away. She gasped, as the pain in her chest that was bearable only a moment before intensified and sent a new wave of nausea crashing over her.

"Gods… Why am I feeling so… _human_?" With one hand desperately trying to keep the blood – yes, blood – from pouring out and overwhelming her, she tried crawling weakly over to Kagome.

With one foot outstretched, she roughly nudged Kagome, to see if she was alive. Kagome groaned, and doubled over; the front of her uniform stained a rich red. Both were silent for quite a while, both trying not to pass out from the immense loss of blood.

Just when Kikyo's strength and endurance were about to give out, she saw a small, now-familiar shape hop right in front of her. And then she collapsed.

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Kagome was first to awake. She did not know why, but the searing shaft of pain was now only a dull thud, a minor discomfort compared to before. But that wasn't the first thing that she noticed. As her eyelids slowly started to function again, she could feel a slight pressure on her nose. It had… sharp claws, but otherwise felt like soft down feathers. _What is this?_ As her eyes focused on the thing on her nose, It gave a happy-sounding "Chiiiiiriiiiii!" that had the general tone of 'good morning!'

Or evening, or night, or midday, now that she thought about it. Just before, when she was trying really hard to stay alive and conscious, she hadn't bothered to look around. Neither did Kikyo, she guessed. _Kikyo!_ Where was she? _I hope she's not dead_, Kagome thought. Then she quickly corrected herself, _Well, not DEAD dead anyway. Inuyasha would surely have a depression fit and cease functioning altogether. _

And besides that, Kagome found she actually cared for other reasons whether Kikyo was still here. She had almost looked human that time when their eyes locked. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

Thinking all this, she realised she still didn't know WHERE Kikyo was. And it is exceedingly hard to move your head when a sparrow has perched on your nose.

"Umm… sparrow… bird… you…"

"Chiri?" (yes?)

"Could you… umm, please move so I can get up?"

"Chiri!" (certainly!)

And Yasei hopped down from her nose, and onto her shoulder as Kagome straightened. Now that she was upright, Kagome could see Kikyo was… slumbering (it's the only word that can describe it) peacefully just a bit away. It was hard to describe the place they were in, but it seemed as if it was a… cave… made of grey smog, with green patches in places, as if they were meant to represent moss. More like a tunnel, actually. It went for as far as she could care to crane her neck both ways, and it had the whole mysterious feel attached to it.

_Well, duh, of course it's_ mysterious_. We were whisked away over here from Feudal Era Japan, which is weird enough, but as if that wasn't enough, I'm here with Kikyo._ Kagome gave a sad sigh, just as Kikyo rolled over and blinked.

Yasei, the gracious host, instantly attended to his second charge, and hopped over in front of Kikyo's nose.

"Chiriiiii??" (And how are you?)

"I'm quite well, in fact, strangely injured. That implies I have actual nerve endings. Explain." And Kikyo gave her sparrow-companion a questioning stare.

"Chi chi chiriii! Chiriri RI!" (It's not my fault! So stop looking at me like that!)

"Well then how did it happen?" Kagome intervened.

"Chiiii….." (Well…)

"What do you know, umm, little sparrow?" Kagome brightly smiled at Yasei as if she was a schoolteacher and he had just got into trouble.

"Chichiri! CHIRI! Chiriririri!" (I'm Yasei-Hane! And NO, you're not getting ANYTHING out of me!)

With a sigh, Kikyo got up, and as it seemed to Kagome, whether she was alive or not, she was back to the cold, dead and unfeeling priestess.

"It doesn't matter if he won't tell us." She brushed away the lot of debris that had stuck to her robes. "What's important is what and where is here." And she gave Yasei her coldest questioning look.

"CHI-RI!? Chiriiiii!" (Didn't I already tell you this isn't my fault? How am I supposed to know what this is?)

With a sigh, Kagome sank back down onto the leafy ground. "Why are there leaves and twigs, if there are no trees?" It was meant to be an airy question, but her words were just bad enough for Kikyo to turn her cold stare at Kagome.

"Wha-at…?" Kagome looked back sleepily. And then her words hit home. "This does have the feel of a giant nest…"

"We have to get out of here." Kikyo started looking around the estranged tunnel.

"Chiri!" (This way!) And he waved his one wing just to make sure they got the idea.

"You knew all the time?" Asked Kagome.

"Chi… Chiririri chichiri." (No… But I do come in handy)

And he led them… To the nearest wall of the tunnel.

"It looks just like any other edge." Kagome flatly stated.

"That's the idea. We'll have to get through it." And Kikyo got one of her arrows out, stepped back, aimed, and the arrow illuminated the whole place for a while, until it flatly thudded against the wall of the tunnel, and dropped uselessly. Kikyo paused for a moment, then went and picked her arrow up, and started to make a sphere of magic appear at the ends of her fingertips.

Yasei and Kagome sat back and watched the pretty lights. Again and again the tunnel was lit up by Kikyo's powerful magic, and again and again the tunnel repelled everything she could come up with. Finally Kikyo slumped down against the wall, exhausted.

She looked up at Yasei and Kagome, both of whom were watching her with concern.

"I'm fine. That just took a lot of effort. I've forgotten how quickly humans tire out."

"What are we going to do now?" Kagome asked quietly. Kikyo just shook her head and continued to breathe deeply and stare off into the distance.

"Chii..rii?" (You could… work together?)

* * *

AN: Ok, another chapter done. Quite long, too. So unlike me; I'm scared now. What creative words will erupt next? AHHH it's so hard to write as Kikyo! Who knows what goes on in her head? We can only guess. Well, I can only guess. Maybe other people are simply smarter and more deductive than me. Well, anyway guys, thank you so much for even reading this bit right here. That means you have probably read all of the above and that feels good to know that whoever is reading this has read that, so, THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And for that rare species known as "reviewers" you know how to make me even happier….!!! Even though the last time I checked there were enough reviews to make me full of myself. I must say the best part of just putting up a new chapter is the expectation of reviews within the next few days.

I hope you're all assured of Yasei's cuteness and unevil-ness now. If not, I'll have to try even harder next chapter. Well, either way, let me know. Ummm... Did they know about nerve endings in Feudal Japan? Whatever. Maybe Kikyo's just psychic.


	8. Into The Daylight

AN: Once again, another round of this LITTLE (oh ha) ditty.

mintomintaizawa: Where IS Inu??? I wonder...

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CHAPTER 7: INTO DAYLIGHT

The sunset was dazzling, hues of dark blue mingled with the recessing natural yellows of the sun.

"Feh," scowled Inuyasha. He had not stopped scowling from the moment it was well and truly clear that BOTH Kikyo and Kagome had disappeared. Just DISAPPEARED. If ever his mind doubted or questioned his motives or actions towards either of them, now it was reinforced greatly.

What if somehow it was his fault? He knew it was unlikely, but really, it COULD have been. With no one to blame for the sudden vanishing of the two women he cared most about, naturally, his confused brain turned on itself. Come to think about it, in a way, he had caused most of the trouble surrounding those two. If he hadn't let himself, a demon half-breed, get attached to a human priestess in the first place, Kikyo wouldn't have died, Kagome wouldn't have been born, and the Shikon would be whole and purified...

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"What do you think we should do?" Asked Sango.

Miroku simply shrugged. "It beats me. We can't look for the Jewel anyway without Kagome…"

"Ka-Ka-Kagome…." Shippo whimpered, and burst into hysterical unrestrained tears. The little fox demon had had enough of all of this, he didn't understand, and Kagome was gone. He cried harder, thinking about Kagome. Kirara shuffled uncomfortably a bit and came up to snuggle against Shippo till he felt better and settled into simple sniffles.

"Idiot!" Sango cuffed Miroku on the ear lightly. "Did you have to say that, Monk?" Then she sighed, and sank onto the ground. "Where _did_ they go?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Directly above them in a tree overlooking the empty battleground, Inuyasha deepened his scowl and tapped his foot impatiently. Why did they all have to break down? As if it wasn't bad enough.

"Oh fine," and with a last fleeting glance at the place where they vanished, he turned around and jumped down before the rest of his companions. "Come on. We'll stay in the area so I can smell her if she comes back, but this doesn't mean we're just gonna give up on the Jewel. What kinda fighters are we?"

He glared each of them down till they reluctantly got ready to walk again, and set off once again on their journey.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"I guess we could give it a shot…" said Kagome warily, looking over at Kikyo. The last time they had been in this position was in the priestess-devouring cave. Neither of them felt compelled to do it again. Kikyo simply gave Kagome her coldest, most un-alive look, and didn't bother answering.

"Chir-ri." We're stuck here then, commented Yasei, and nonchalantly plopped down on the spot and started getting comfortable.

Kikyo did the slightest eye roll, and wearily got up. "I'm waiting."

"Oh, good!" Kagome didn't feel like this either, but it was either working with the dead lady for a bit, or being stuck with her for an indefinite amount of time in a cramped, cold, dark cave awaiting God-knows-what. And she didn't want to be around Kikyo any longer than necessary.

Standing up, she realised she hadn't the slightest clue.

Kikyo folded her arms across her chest. She had agreed, but she definitely wasn't going to be the encourager in this. Her little copy could just stand there and be useless. Maybe she could try again, doubling the effort this time… But she was still so tired, it looks like she'll need Kagome.

Both adversaries gave each other looks, differing in confidence and manner. Kikyo's was an I-was-here-first-and-I'm-better-than-you, while Kagome's was Can-we-please-just-get-on-with-it?-It's-not-the-hardest-thing-in-the-world.

To break the ominous, stressed silence, Yasei gave a yawn and pretended to get comfortable for a nap. Both pairs of eyes drifted down towards him, and both gave a bored sigh. Kagome decided that since the Ice Queen was just going to be more distant with each second, she was going to have to start this somehow. To do this, she was going to have to play the happy part.

"What do I have to do?" She inquired, looking intently at Kikyo's face, trying to get some eye contact going.

Since Kagome had made the first move, Kikyo decided to cooperate only for the sake of getting out of there. "We could try to break down the barrier by either our arrows, or just throwing magic at it, with our combined strengths." There was a pause. "I suggest the arrows first."

"Yeah, sure," Kagome said brightly. Kikyo briefly wondered how she could sound so chirpy, but then again, she wasn't as exhausted. They stood back, and without planning it, their movements were perfectly synchronised. If there was such a thing as synchronised archery, they would have won the gold. They aimed, stretched the bowstrings taut, and fired. Yasei barely had time to scamper out of the way as once again the cave was lit by the priestess magic. The two arrows flew together, and got stuck into the wall, with electric-like energy sizzling around them as the wall tried to shield them off once again.

Kikyo didn't hesitate. It looked like the wall could be penetrated with just another slight push. Instinctively and without communication, Kagome got the idea and once again the two partners in synchronised archery drew, aimed and fired into the epicentre of glowing magic.

There was a short moment of complete stillness, then with an explosion of light, the grey murky wall cracked, and deteriorated into nothing. The same thing started to happen to the whole cave, until the nearly blinding light surrounded the two priestesses and the sparrow completely.

Slowly the last whispers of the light receded, to uncover what lay beyond the unreal walls: just another plain stretch of forest. Lowering her bow, Kagome gave a little triumphant laugh. Kikyo turned away, and let her hair fall over her face to conceal her victorious grin, before her normal blank expression returned.

"Chiri!" Finally!

Yasei hopped over to Kikyo, and waited till she lowered her hand for him. He hopped on, clambering to his usual spot on her shoulder.

Kagome turned around, a hint of her last smile on her face, and asked, "What now, then?"

Kikyo frowned as she thought about the question. Her frown deepened as she realised they weren't home yet. "We're still not in our world. It doesn't feel like anywhere I've been, or even remotely like it. Normally I'd at least feel Mt Hakurei; its power is so great I can sense it from anywhere in Japan, but here… nothing. Not even the slightest magical force. The trees don't even feel alive." She said this, resting her hand on a nearby tree.

Kagome's smile faded, but she was far from disheartened. "Well, let's see what we can find to eat… I'm hungry. You must be too… Oh, you don't eat, well, whatever."

"No, I'm hungry too." Kikyo said.

Kagome raised both of her eyebrows. "What?"

"I seem to be alive." Kikyo wondered why she bothered.

"Oh yeah… The blood… We should get cleaned up." The two of the looked down at their messy soiled clothes and started organising chores, trying to keep the questions out of their minds; it was all too weird.

* * *

AN: I wrote way more than this but then deleted it all, it didn't sound natural, or like Kikyo or Kagome would. In fact, even towards the end here it goes all… weird… Really, really unnatural. As if the words were forced. I hate it when it gets like that, so I don't know how you readers took it, but I sure don't like the last part of this chapter.

Oh yes – my inspiration this time is this wonderful wonderful old-ish book, by OR Melling, (no, I've never heard of her either) called The Hunter's Moon. If you ever feel like you don't have enough to read – see if you can find it.


	9. Break

AN: Well guys I'm sure I can't answer all your questions; I guess this is one of those annoying stories that just keep on unfolding with way more questions than answers. Sigh… I guess that's what happens when you try to imitate life too much.

* * *

CHAPTER 8: BREAK

"We only have that last Jewel Shard from the Bear Demon. How are we meant to do ANYTHING with only one?" Whined Shippo.

Inuyasha was having a very hard time restraining himself from taking everything out on the little fox demon.

"Patience, Shippo. Remember, we have had times when we had none." Miroku admonished, raising his hand as if in prayer while speaking. "Besides, it's not as if we use them."

Sango, who had been walking at the front of the diminished group, stopped and turned around.

"What's up, Sango?" Inuyasha asked, relieved about a distraction.

"We've been patrolling this area for two days now. I don't think it'll do us any good, especially without Kagome. Let's just camp and think of an effective way to do this."

Kirara whined in agreement.

Inuyasha sighed. "It's not just that, though. We have to do something… We'll just feel useless if we sit in one place and wait."

"Don't you mean YOU'LL feel useless??? We'll be just fi- AAAAAAAAAAAAAA Inuyasha's hurting me again!!!!!!!" Shippo jumped away from Inuyasha, clutching his sore head where Inuyasha had mercilessly pounded it. "When Kagome comes back, you're going to regret-"

Inuyasha growled. "Don't you GET IT? She might NOT BE COMING BACK!" He was shaking, his head lowered, his hands formed into tight fists. He turned away, still shaking – from rage or something else, it was hard to tell – and broke into a run, jumping up into the tree branches, away from the group.

"Well, we might as well-" Miroku did not get far, because Shippo had started shouting too.

"IT'S NOT FAIR! KAGOME'S… Kagome's… she's… she HAS to come back… I…" Shippo fell silent, staring at his feet, then he too broke into a run, in the opposite direction of where Inuyasha had gone.

Sango and Miroku stood in shocked silence, in the wake of their companions. Sango gave a deep sigh. "I guess we really have nothing to do but make camp and wait. If neither of them is back in the morning we'll look."

"Why?" Miroku said quietly. "They can go if they want to. There's nothing here to keep them."

Sango couldn't do anything but stare at Miroku, surprised and hurt, while he unpacked their gear silently, which they had collected from their deserted camp after Kagome's disappearance. Then she too, quietly, said, "Come on Kirara. I guess there's nothing to keep us either, is there?" She quickly got on Kirara, and flew away.

Miroku too, could only stare at their receding silhouette against the setting sun, and whisper, "That's not what I meant…"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Sango, after flying away to a safe distance, told Kirara to land. She got down into a little remote patch of forest, huddled underneath a tree, and buried her face in her hands. Kirara could do nothing but purr and comfort Sango the best she could.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Miroku, in his fashion, stood and walked away. The nearest village was going to be exorcised soon, whether it needed it or not.

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Shippo, after stumbling madly for an hour, finally got back to the place where he had left his friends. No one was to be seen, heard, or detected by his superior sense of smell. The little fox demon sniffed, and nearly burst into tears again. But he didn't, and instead marched bravely on into the scrub. He'd live off what he could find, just like he did before.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Inuyasha was perched on a tree, in his usual watch position. The tree overlooked the now deserted battlefield. Scavengers had long since fixed the rotting meat problem. All that remained now was the occasional battle-axe and armour, or protruding bone. If Kagome and Kikyo were coming back, he'd be first to know.

The members of the previously determined and inseparable group had temporarily forgotten all about their search of Naraku and the Jewel.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Kikyo and Kagome had avoided each other as much as they could, and had unconsciously separated again, moving into different spots of the forest. They didn't know what they were doing or what they were waiting for, but somehow both knew this time of quiet wasn't going to last. Until then, much thinking was done…

_To live is to die. To die is to live. Pure is impure. Impure is pure. Good is evil. Evil is good. To live, then die, and live, and live, and live again…_ Kikyo kneaded her face in her hands. What was going on? How could she just have… become human again, just like that? This wasn't possible. What her cold soul and dead heart had wanted most, she now had: life. But now that she had, she wasn't so sure.

Previously she had assumed that since she was going to Hell anyway, she might as well take the one she had loved and hated most: Inuyasha. Now that she was alive… Did she have to? When she was made of clay, she could not feel anything new. She was frozen into the way she had been when she was dead. She could only feel things her living self had felt, only much duller, and less life-like… She had been numb. Numb to all the new sensations. If mercy had not been in her heart, then mercy she would not feel.

Fortunately when she died, she had not had much time to hate. That way her self previous to being betrayed had shone through when she had been brought to life by Urasue, and that way she could keep being a priestess in that half-life, helping people along the way. The only real hatred she could feel was against Inuyasha. That hatred and sense of betrayal had been the last thing she felt before passing away, and had dominated her clay heart. It was the only thing that made her feel remotely alive, along with a longing for the Inuyasha she knew before he had betrayed her.

When she learnt that it was not really Inuyasha that had struck the fatal wound, and that he in turn had been tricked, her clay heart was already set. It could not change. No matter how she had tried all this time, her clay heart was frozen into what it had been when she was alive. When she was alive, she had felt no hatred for Onigumo. So, she now felt nothing towards Naraku but pity.

Now, all the new things of her life that had not been able to affect her before, hit her with a sharpness she had almost forgotten. Inuyasha really WAS innocent. Kagome… Kagome… Kagome… Naraku… Onigumo… Her old memories and new experiences swirled, twisted and mixed, and everything she had not been able to feel she now understood and accepted. She was becoming the Kikyo she had been. Slowly, but surely, she was being restored.

The first thing she felt when she managed to straighten everything out in her mind was the forgiveness. She felt forgiveness. Forgiveness, even if it was for something Inuyasha had not done, she still needed to feel it, to accept its truth. That was the only she could dispel the hatred and betrayal that had frozen her, and that which had taken over her half-living self.

Now that she could think clearly for the first time in fifty years, she could only smile sadly at the way things had turned out. The Jewel of Four Souls had tried to recompense her deep hatred and impurity by reincarnating her into Kagome… But that did not change the original malice in Kikyo's heart. It only led Kagome back to the Feudal Era, to try and change what had happened there, and only really served to shatter the Jewel and stain it more, rather than purify it.

She knew why she had always passed on the shards she possessed to Naraku; it was because she knew she could not purify them, couldn't do anything with them, and that struck a chord in her priestess' mind: to get rid of everything that did not fit in with the way she had been. She knew why she had always tried to kill Kagome in accordance with Naraku's wishes; it was because the girl was now everything Kikyo couldn't be then; it seems there was space in her heart for a little jealousy after all… Now towards Kagome she no longer felt resentment. After all, the girl had not done anything in particular to oppose her. And now, she was no longer superior. Kagome was an equal, at the most. But she now knew, she knew everything, and she could fix everything now… The old Kikyo was back.

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Kagome's thoughts were going in a much different direction from Kikyo's. While Kikyo's had been much more philosophical, Kagome's were a bit more practical. She was trying to figure out how she was going to get out of this forest… it definitely wasn't anywhere she had been before. Wandering around would be useless. She needed to get out of this place to her own world.

And how were her friends? She wished she knew. She wondered if she was ever going to get back, so she could see her family, see Inuyasha, see Shippo, and Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and if she'll ever get to defeat Naraku…

Beside her Yasei chirped. He was constantly flitting between her and Kikyo nowadays, as if he was in charge of them and had to constantly check up on them. Whatever it was, she was glad she wasn't alone with just Kikyo. That she was alive – properly- and STILL cold and unfeeling, was getting to her.

"Chirii!" How are you today?

"I'm fine. Today has a different feel to it… as if something's going to happen… Don't you think so?"

Yasei-Hane stayed mysteriously silent, looking at her with both eyes firmly locked on her. Kagome shifted a little under his stare, and gave a nervous little laugh, only managing to freak herself out even more, and nearly falling over.

"Chi?" Are you okay?

Now Yasei was looking at her as if SHE was the crazy one. Probably was, in this case.

"Umm yes, well, of course. Shall I go find Kikyo and see about lunch?" Kagome decided on a bit of hospitality.

"Chiri!" Sure!

They set off into the general direction of Kikyo's camp, only to find Kikyo coming to find them herself. Kikyo attempted a smile, and failed. She wasn't used to so much… feeling… Even the distant birdcalls were new and exciting. It was as if she was a baby, only yet getting to know the world. The rough texture of the bark that she would have not felt a week ago now fascinated her. Only in the last day had she really opened her eyes to her new existence; now she was impatient to DO something, and see again how life felt.

Kagome was surprised to see Kikyo actually staring off into the distance, apparently listening to the birds, rather than unnerving her with her stare as always, and decided that this was probably a chance to break the ice between them.

"Good morning Kikyo, I was just going to see if you felt like lunch…" Kagome broke off as Kikyo reverted to herself and fixed her with her normal blank gaze. After a slight pause, Kagome wondered why she was even letting _Kikyo_ get to her, and started again, "Do you have any preferences as to how your fish should be cooked, Kikyo?"

Kikyo shook her head.

_Oh great, she's not even talking to me…_Kagome, a little put out that her attempt at a peace offering had failed, set off to the river.

Kikyo wondered why Kagome had set off so briskly. All she had done was scrutinise her face for a likeness… Should she have said something, perhaps? It seemed Kikyo was not yet quite as accustomed to this world as she had thought she was.

Yasei gave an exasperated 'Chiri' at the two priestesses, and hopped to a more comfortable position on Kikyo's shoulder.

* * *

AN: Well this turned out a bit differently than I had originally thought… I promise, the Inuyasha gang isn't going to be like that forever… that would be just too heartbreaking. Right now I really feel sorry for Shippo… 

Well guys at this point please - PLEASE - tell me if the whole Kikyo-thinking bit was boring. Every one of you who reviews should just answer a yes-or-no question: was the Kikyo thinking bit BORING? Tell me so I can improve. Pretty please. Sorry if it was. I was just trying to explain her in a way the most determined Kikyo-hater would understand… though I doubt you'd have gotten this far if you really hated her that much… Oh well.

Because I just saw the fourth Inu movie…. And GRRRRR Inu was SO MEAN to Kagome… he left her just for a puppet Kikyo! Not even the clay one! Just a puppet! I am tormented. He shall have to be punished… or at least taught a lesson.


	10. How Matters Lay

AN: Ok very scarily, the last time I checked, there were more than 20 reviews on this thing. (I know it's not THAT much, but for me, it is).

That scared/pleased me profoundly. (how did I get so many…?) It also motivated me to open up this little word document. Thankyou to those people who have faith in me and in this story, because unless I turn all this around very fast, I myself won't have much left. I've decided to DO something with this chapter… we'll see how that turns out.

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CHAPTER 9: HOW MATTERS LAY

Miroku was earnestly staring into the eyes of a young village girl, kneeling and with one hand holding hers. The girl herself was having a very bad case of the giggles, and was starting to imitate a cherry. Before she herself could actually answer to his question, an angry elder lady came and took the giggling young girl away, leaving Miroku a hostile glare.

Miroku sighed, and got up. There were cries of "Monk!" and "Monk! Over here!" from all the other young (and not so young) ladies of the village, but for some strange reason Miroku paid no attention to them. He simply got up and walked out of the village gates, leaving people to wonder at the mysterious, powerful monk and his strange attitude towards pretty young ladies.

Miroku, walking further and further away, was deaf to all the sounds of the outside world. He was lost in his own thoughts, particularly in one about that last girl… She reminded him of Sango, which was why he had asked her to bear his child… But Sango was lost to him… And so were Kagome, and Inuyasha, and Shippo… But there was nothing he could do about it, right? He'll just have to leave it alone to Fate to decide. Meanwhile he was just going to have to figure out a way to get at Naraku on his own.

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Kagome blundered through the brambles on the now familiar way to the river. They were more determined to cut her than usual. _Ah well, I'll just have to get over it,_ she thought. _There is no way I'm letting Kikyo have the satisfaction of giving me one of her looks if I turn back just because of a few cuts._

As she got to the river, she wondered about how she was actually going to catch the fish. The net she made on the first day had ripped in quite a few places, so she couldn't use that anymore. It was either jump in there or sit around for half a day and make a new net. _What about my bow and arrows?_ If people used spears then surely she could use arrows… They're only a little shorter.

She reached back for an arrow, and wondered yet again how she was going to go about doing this. Should she shoot the fish, or should she use the actual arrow as a spear? _Kikyo would know. Kikyo would know everything about this kind of thing. . That's why Inuyasha loves her more than me…I just don't belong here… _The evil thought popped into her mind unbidden, and it was true.

She lowered the arm with the arrow, and let her hair cover her face. _I'm never going to get out of here. I'll never even see him again. And in the end, he would have just gone back to Kikyo anyway. She was here first. I'm just her little copy, to him. Has he ever seen me as me and not as a shadow of her? _The overwhelming sadness in her built up, and turned itself into rage.

As a blind gesture, she hurled the arrow into the stream with all the strength she could muster. The arrow embedded itself into something huge, something not quite evil and not quite pure, that she would have noticed before, if it weren't for her rampant thoughts.

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Kikyo stood up, agitated. Kagome had been gone for a long time, and now Kikyo could feel a strange aura approaching Kagome's from the other side of the river. She picked up her bow and arrows and set off at a run to where Kagome was.

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Inuyasha twitched impatiently. It was the second day without his friends, and he was beginning to get anxious. As if he didn't have enough problems. He shifted to a new position, hoping that would solve all of his discomfort. It did not.

He had already gone back to where he left them, and from there he could sense all of their scents splitting up into different directions, indicating that they had left individually; Sango and Kirara's scent had disappeared into the air, and Shippo's occurred twice, meaning he had gone back, and Miroku's left by the path.

What had they been thinking? Just as he tried to shift his position again, he noticed two things: 1) that Shippo's scent was coming from very nearby, and he would have picked it up earlier, only the wind was blowing the wrong way, and 2) the said fox demon was doubtless the one causing a major racket right under his tree.

Inuyasha hopped off his branch, right behind Shippo.

The little demon was moving around and stepping on twigs, leaves – anything that would make a noise, crunching on something unidentified, muttering something like, "Now where did that … (unidentified mutter)… roll off to? …. (Mutter mutter) … my food give it back… what's that?... ewwwww…. AH! I found it!" at the same time Shippo held up his acorn, triumphant, Inuyasha grabbed him and pulled him into the air. "Now look here, you miserable, small, noisy –"

Shippo, not bothering to see who his captor was, instantly let off a loud shriek and buried his captor in a mound of screaming mushrooms. Not finished yet, Shippo let loose a Spinning Top on the already buried Inuyasha. Then he stood back and looked in great admiration at his own handiwork.

"Ha! Now you're not so tough! Think next time before you mess with Shippo, the great –"

"SHIPPO!" Inuyasha yelled, getting his head through and trying to free the rest of him of the ridiculously loud and annoying mushrooms.

"Uh oh," Shippo mumbled, and set off running, "I'm sorry Inuyasha! I didn't mean it! It's not my fault! I -"

Inuyasha, now completely free, caught up with him very quickly, and once again snatched him up into the air, and gave a menacing growl. Three rapid punches followed, their noise echoing into the distance. A moment later, Shippo's indignant yell followed.

"You're too young and way too useless to be allowed to run free. You're staying with me." Inuyasha hopped onto his old branch, very annoyed at the fox demon.

"So what, we're going to just sit here and wait? That's even more useless."

"Shut up."

"No."

"I'll make you."

"Yeah? Show me."

Inuyasha aimed a fist at Shippo's already bumped head, only to miss it.

"NYEHHHH!!! You can't catch me." Shippo taunted, and started a chase around the tree.

"Listen here-"

"Nyahhhahhaaaa!"

"Hey! Get back!"

"What's for dinner?"

"I said, GET BACK HERE!"

"No thanks. I want food." Shippo made the mistake of stopping.

The annoyed yowl of the young fox demon could once again be heard throughout that forest.

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"Hiraikotsu!"

The heavy boomerang slammed into the snake demon, severing it into two halves all down its length. The boomerang whizzed in the air, made a half circle and returned into the waiting hand of the demon slayer.

The small crowd of anxious villagers around her broke into a cheering audience, all coming up to Sango to offer accommodation, food, thanks and requests.

"As Head of this town, I thank you on behalf of the village-"

"Miss Slayer! We would be honoured if you'd consider staying at our humble-"

"But our house is so much more suited to-"

"We have a large yard for the cat demon-"

"That was fantastic! You wouldn't consider staying and training our-"

"I have a son about your age, very hardworking, kind, and –"

Sango sighed, and looked at the faces of the milling villagers.

"No thank you, I really must decline from all that. I believe I heard about a large demon in the next village; I must go as soon as I can."

"But, Slayer, what about your payment?" The Head of the village was now holding a small bag weighed down with what looked like gold. Sango looked at the sky; it was still light. She could get food from the next village.

"No, thank you, I only accept an occasional meal."

"But -"

"Thank you again for all your hospitality." With that the mysterious demon Slayer disappeared into the air on her unusual cat demon.

"Well Kirara, they're a bit better then the last lot. Those actually prepared a feast for me beforehand. Father never told me they could be so insistent." She gave a little laugh; "I was hoping that the demon would have a Jewel fragment… But I guess I can't have everything…"

Kirara yowled in agreement, and they both fell silent. She then nudged Sango, and motioned towards a clearing in the forest. "Yes, I think a bit of rest would be delightful too." Kirara shot down in a flaming arc to the spot, and they settled there: a little time out, for Kirara to rest and for Sango to think.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Just as Kikyo got past the same brambles Kagome had suffered, she saw the situation progress into a very bad direction. A blue-grey humanoid form with tentacles had Kagome so wrapped up that Kikyo could hardly sense her. Not that the creature's own overpowering aura made it any easier.

Calmly, Kikyo drew her arrow and aimed it at the creature's chest… If that was what it was.

"Release her." Kikyo didn't expect it to be capable of speech so she decided to give it a chance anyway, but apparently it was. Seeing that there was another human, instantly the blue-grey thing changed into a stone-faced deity wearing a flowing blue-grey robe. With tentacles intact.

"The human attacked me, and trespassed on my river. She is mine to punish, so step away, Priestess. I have the authority here." The creature's speech was strangely muffled and unclear, as if from a great distance.

Kikyo decided to go on anyway and ignore the small stone of doubt that had settled in her heart, but before she could say anything, Kagome herself had wrestled her head free of the tentacles, obviously angry.

"I attacked YOU? I'm not the one with the ominous presence that sneaked up on me, you know! Let me go!" Kagome shrieked.

Kikyo drew her bowstring taut, and everything about her indicated she was about to fire.

"Don't you want to know how to get out of here?" The strange deity said again.

For a moment there was silence. Kikyo lessened the pressure on her bowstring, but she neither lowered it, nor moved. Kagome stopped struggling – she had got her upper body and arms free – and stared at her captor with round eyes and a wary expression.

"Keep talking," said Kikyo.

"You two are a very special case… Very special indeed… As far as I am aware, Kikyo-" Kikyo did not show the slightest sign of surprise that the deity knew her name, "- Kagome was not yet born at this point in your Time."

Pausing, the deity swept her eyes over the two Priestesses. "May I know how, exactly, the girl managed this – I mean the appearance in a Time not her own?"

"Why do you want to know?" The earlier aggression had gone from Kagome's voice. Now just suspicion remained. Kikyo's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don't goddesses have a right to know what goes on in their own world anymore?" The creature was starting to sound a bit less distant, and more normal.

"If you are a goddess… Why are you so afraid of a simple arrow, then?" Kikyo asked.

"I AM NOT – AFRAID!!!!!!!" After letting off that ear-piercing scream, the "goddess" continued to shriek and yell, all the while building up a magical force. Her tentacles were now gone, and Kagome scrambled backwards, retrieved her fallen bow and arrows and drew one.

Again, Kikyo and Kagome simultaneously aimed their arrows, not even looking at the other. It seemed as though they were perfectly in sync even though they were so far from being each other.

Just as the deity's magical potential built up to the point where it became more than just potential, the two Priestesses released their arrows into the unknown.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

The last thing Kagome remembered was firing her arrow – and then, a blinding white light, that could have been the Holy arrow, or a huge explosion, or something she didn't know.

Once again she was lying on the ground, after being completely and utterly knocked out.

"Chiiiiiiiiri!" Get up!

"Huh?" Kagome tried to straighten out, and succeeded. It seemed her wound was completely recovered, otherwise she'd know.

'Chiriiri." I have to talk to you.

Kagome looked around. Kikyo was already conscious – if she was ever unconscious, that is, and sitting up. They were in a rectangular room that was a murky shade of sea-green, with nothing in it but them.

"What happened?" Kagome asked, and Kikyo answered.

"I don't know."

"Oh." They both turned to look at Yasei, who was between the two of them on the floor.

"Chirii chii chi chiriri." She is the Goddess of this realm.

"That thing?" Kagome asked. Yasei inclined his head in a nod.

"Chiri chi chiririiri riri chi." Though only a minor one… And I am her servant.

There was a rather awkward silence, in which Kikyo made the most out of her less than expressive stone face. However, Yasei didn't seem perturbed. He just fluffed his feathers in an imitation of a cute defenceless bird.

"You tricked us." Kagome did not seem at all shocked, though deep down she was somewhat hurt to know that this cute sparrow had been just… just what? What was the whole point of this whole escapade?

"Why?" Kikyo's voice was not angry. It was soft, yet flat. Dead, really.

"Chiriri." She told me to.

"Are you going to tell us anything or not?" Demanded Kagome, suddenly annoyed at the whole business. She wanted to see Gramps, Souta, and her mom. She wanted to argue with and "sit" Inuyasha again. She wanted to talk with Sango. She wanted to pat Kirara, and tell Shippo off, then slap Miroku. Anything but sit here in this empty room with a dead chick and a freaky bird.

"Chiri ri," You must ask the right questions.

"How can this Goddess be defeated?" Kikyo promptly fired off.

"How do we get back?" Followed Kagome.

"Chi ri chiriri chi chi chirri. Chiiriri chicrirchichi, chiriri chiri chiri chi chi chi chiririr." I am not allowed to talk outright, but she never said I couldn't answer. So: to kill her and get back you have to get out of here, which is not going to be easy. As for killing, that is not advisable. This whole realm is her own creation, so if she dies, I don't know what happens: it could fold in on itself.

Yasei lazily stretched his remaining wing out, and continued.

"Chiririchi chirir, chiriri. Chiri chichichi ri ririri chiri chiriri, chiriri chiriri." Since she was concerned about the Sacred arrows, you could try that. The only reason it didn't work before was because they never got there: she used her magic to blow everything away. Including the arrows.

"Chiriri chi chiri? Chiri chiri chiririri. Chiriri, chiriri riri richichiri." And as for leaving? She brought you here, she brings you back. That's all I know. And about getting out of here, we need to act fast. As we sit in here she is draining your souls through the room itself. It is a slow but sure process.

" So… our souls are getting taken away? How? Is it possible?" Kagome asked.

"It is possible to extract it… with the right magic." Kikyo said. As Kagome thought about Urasue, she shuddered. That feeling had been horrible.

"Chiriri chi chiri, chirririri. Riri richi. Chirirchi, chichiri. Chiri chirirchi chirrichi." She is not just taking your soul, but also you. Soon your material selves will also fade. I am exempt; it's only you she wants. I think she's forgotten about me. I am a friend, you know, even if I do have to follow a mad old hag's instructions.

Oddly enough, Kikyo and Kagome had no trouble believing the last part. It was as though they knew that all along; though neither decided to show that.

"Say, Yasei, so how is it that you have to do what she tells you?" Asked a puzzled Kagome.

"Chiririr chiriri chi chi chiriri, chiriri ririri, chiri chiriri. Chiri richichiri." Our family had always been involved with her clan, it's just that now she found something she needed, namely you two, and then decided that I should get it for her. Not to mention took my daughter hostage.

Here, Yasei sniffled pitifully and did a sparrow-shuffle on the spot.

"Poor Yasei…" Kagome looked at the little bird and felt extremely sorry for it.

Kikyo, listening to all this, suddenly got up, and got out her arrows again. She took aim quickly, and shot her arrows into the nearest wall. All it did was just stick there for a while, and was then absorbed into the wall.

"Chi ri chiri riri chi chiririri." Everything you do will just get sucked in quicker.

Kagome could not suppress a light groan. _This is the Cave and that Priestess-Trap all over again... Why am _I_ the one that has to be continually stuck with someone I really don't like all the time? _

"Why does she need our soul?" Kikyo asked. Kagome could not help but notice the use of the singular term.

"Chi…. Chiririr. Ri richi chirir." Apparently… she thinks yours is special. And she needs it.

* * *

AN: I hope that was Ok, and that it answered SOME questions. Hopefully, that is. Maybe it's just me again, but that last part is very very dodgy and OOC to me… I wish I had Yasei. Why does Kikyo have to be the one with a cute bird???

NOTES: Some of the concepts I talk about in this story I really have not much more idea about then you, so if it seems… wrong, weird, whatever, then please don't hate me for ever and ever.

KEEP ON REVIEWING, you all! I still really really like reading what people have to say about my sometimes-good-sometimes-bad writing. Your reviews do not go unappreciated.


	11. The Last Arrow

AN: Blame Kaede. Blame Kaede if you don't like this. IT'S ALL HER FAULT!!! Not that it's bad or anything… (not according to me anyway) just a bit philosophical. Ok, every time I am convinced I absolutely loathe Rumiko Takahashi, she gives me something that makes me rebuild my Rumiko Takahashi worship shrine. Not that I have one, I'm just saying…

What I mean is Episode 147&148. The Inuyasha Special – The Tragic Love Song of Destiny. I've just watched it- could you guess?

ARRRGHHHHHHH

TRAGIC??? Understatement. Well read on. Just know I am deprived of any common sense towards this fic I ever had.

* * *

CHAPTER 10: THE LAST ARROW

_Stuck again. _Kagome gave a loud exasperated sigh out of nowhere, which caused Kikyo and Yasei to look at her a bit funny.

She gave a light laugh, showing off how scary her smile can be when she forces it, and said, "Sorry!! Hehe, it's nothing!" And waved her arms exaggeratedly, to demonstrate that she was, indeed, fine.

Yasei hopped over, more perturbed by her windmilling arms than anything. "Chiri?" Are you okay?

"Fine, fine!" And her arms were practically signalling to a landing plane now.

Kikyo raised her eyebrows and turned back to the wall, sitting cross-legged with her bow and arrows clutched loosely to her chest, apparently in deep consternation. Quite reminiscent of Inuyasha, actually. Kagome wondered if it was just a coincidence.

Yasei just looked at her sideways, and hopped back to his spot in the corner.

_Lovely. Now I have no control over my limbs as well as being an immature giggle pot_. She caught herself before she gave another loud sigh. _Why do I care anyway? It's just a little bird… and Kikyo. _

"Is there really no way out of here?" Asked Kagome after a while, breaking the monotonous silence.

"Chi." No.

Kagome ground her teeth in frustration. She'd come a long way from being a simple schoolgirl; she'd faced demons and gods, wasn't she capable of better than this?

"Kikyo! Do you think we could try combining our powers again?"

"But we already have… thrice. It's just tired us out more. The best we can do is to conserve what determination we have left."

"But the walls might be weakening! We've got to try something!"

Kikyo looked sidelong at the younger girl. Kagome was obviously flustered, feeling impatient to get out. So was Kikyo, but sometimes you just had to learn when to stop.

"No. I want to save my arrows."

Kagome couldn't believe it. She couldn't see things Kikyo's way; for her to sit back was as good as giving up. And Kagome wasn't the giving-up type. Still, there really was nothing she could do now. She flopped back down to the ground in an angry flurry. Now, she concentrated on going over and over what she knew, trying to think of some other way to get out.

Kikyo turned back to the wall. _So impatient… _Yet she could not say she herself was any better back in the cave. It was only the cave experience that stopped her now, from getting up and repeatedly shooting arrow after another at the walls.

Now Kagome had started walking around, knocking on parts of the walls, trying to see if there was a hollow or thinner part anywhere. Kikyo didn't think it would work; whatever imprisoned them in the cave obviously intended to test their abilities; and left a deliberate way out. Here, she could see no reason for that. And with each minute she was just feeling weaker and weaker.

As always when left alone with her thoughts; her mind drifted to her past life… She had been so pure, so righteous. Typical, really, for it all to fall apart. But why her? Why could it not be some other priestess? But before she could get far along that track, her mind provided her an answer. It was all because she was so good, so unmovable, that it all happened. That priestess… Midoriko, wasn't it? She was great too, and now her remains lie in a cave, moulded together with her enemies, while the Sacred Jewel was forever causing more harm than good.

In fact, almost every great person she'd heard of or knew of had met a regrettable end.

Kagome was now quizzing Yasei on the particulars of their location, to which he could not provide much help.

_I might have ended up the same as Midoriko, cold and distant forever, if it was not for Inuyasha… _It was even funny, how all the rage and hate never really erased the good memories; if anything, they only made them stronger. And here she gave a small smile. Her memories had not faded. But it seems he was out of reach now. And so was the life she had so hoped for all those years ago. Fifty years… yes, the time was long past. But she knew they'd always share a bond, even in death. Especially in death…

Was it because of her bond with Inuyasha that Kagome had hers? If Kikyo had never been, Inuyasha would never take a second look at the ebony haired girl from the future. It was only because of their similarity that he knew her. _And only because of their difference did he love her. _

Did Inuyasha love Kagome? It was hard to tell. Perhaps he loved both of them. He definitely cared for her. But he cared for her, Kikyo, too. Kikyo smiled quietly smiled to herself. No one from the outside would ever guess the unruly hanyou's heart was big enough to have so many people in it. There was his mother in there too, and most probably his travelling companions now, that monk, that demon slayer, the fox-demon, and others… She wished she knew who… Suddenly she wished she was the one travelling day by day with him in that close-knit gang, collecting Jewel shards and united by a single purpose.

_Friends… what were they like? _

Her attention finally turned to Kagome, who was now finally getting out her bow and arrows, intent on destroying their prison. _Does she know what she's got?_ Kikyo scoffed at herself. _Of course she does, constantly living in my shadow. _

She got up, intrigued by what Kagome was doing.

"Kikyo! I'm trying this one last time. If I pass out in the process, then so be it. Join in if you want, I'm sick of waiting."

"Great. So am I." Kikyo drew her own arrow and nocked it into the bow. _All or nothing; my life story._ "One after another, quickly."

Kagome was surprised that Kikyo followed so easily; before she had seemed so cold. Still, with that one, you never knew. Kagome nodded.

This time there was no coordination. Bright bursts of priestess-magic lighted up the rectangular room, and just as one arrow stuck in the wall to be absorbed, another succeeded it rapidly. It was almost as if the wall didn't have enough time. This eye-blinding sight went on for the better part of a minute, both archers lost in the rapidity of the action, almost unaware of anything but their achievement.

It was aim, fire, get another one, repeat. Kikyo was naturally faster, but Kagome was catching up. And almost as quickly as it had started, Kagome's arrows ended. She stood there, exhilarated - but almost fainting from the effort and loss of will - only to look up at Kikyo hesitating with her last arrow, seeming as if she was deep in thought.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Tetsusaiga!"

"Wind Tunnel!"

"Bug off, Miroku, it's my lot of demons!"

"Forgive me Inuyasha, but I do believe I was here first." And with that, the Monk undid the sutra beads around his right hand, and opened the great vacuum in his palm to suck the great cloud of demons surrounding them neatly in one go.

"I thought I told you they were mine!" Inuyasha growled, stepping closer to the Monk and intruding his personal space.

"I do wish you were more careful about people's personal space, Inuyasha."

"Personal space? What's that?" And he leered right in to Miroku's face.

The monk was clearly not impressed.

"Grow up, Inuyasha! You're worse than me!" Shippo taunted.

"Shaaaadup!"

"OWW!!"

"Inuyasha, leave Shippo alone. Perhaps you should consider what he has to say."

"What did you say?" Inuyasha growled again.

"Do you have dinner Miroku?" Shippo asked, nursing his sore head. "This overgrown mutt hasn't fed me properly since he captured me against my – OWW. Go easy on the hair," Shippo mumbled.

"Ah, I will soon." The monk's unholy eyes spread over the villagers coming to thank them for the exorcism. "Care to join us, Inuyasha?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Ki - Kikyo?" Kagome stuttered. The cold priestess was still standing with her last arrow lowered, not moving.

Suddenly, Kikyo drew back her arrow as far as it went, and swivelled. For a frightful moment, Kagome thought she was going to point it in her direction, but Kikyo swept past her.

Kikyo's eyes glinted sharply in the dull room. "Yasei?" He was nowhere to be seen.

A loud shriek from her extreme left alerted her. It was Yasei, launching himself at her, in the same voice he had used back in the field when they disappeared.

Kikyo narrowed her eyes; her arm pulled the arrow even further back into the bowstring – there would be no mistakes now.

* * *

AN: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Sarah. The Woman Who Loved Sesshoumaru. Complete loony, but great flute skills.

Also, I now have NO Inu supply. Sad, isn't it? Yes it is, for me. Stopped short at episode 150. WAAAAA. Cuz my friend only has up to vol 39. AND – just at the part where Kagome has to CHOOSE whether to kill of Kikyo or not!!!!!! (sorry bout the spoiler for some of you)

So yes. Goodbye for now. Review if you want to point out how bad some of my writing techniques are. Or how great I am at typing (not). Whatever. Say what you want, it's your review box.


	12. For Me

AN: Chapter… eleven??? WOW! I GOT THIS FAR! Unbelievable. I'm being consistent…

* * *

CHAPTER 11: "FOR ME"

"Ki- Kikyo?" Kagome was very afraid for a second. She had spent all her arrows – and was deathly tired. She felt like dropping onto the floor and just sinking into her dream world sleep, away from everyone and away from the circumstances.

Obviously Kikyo had other plans.

Wasn't she tired too? Was she stronger and more enduring than Kagome, as well as better than her in every other aspect?

And now, surely, in that fraction of a second Kagome was sure that the whole thing was a conspiracy – Kikyo simply wanted Kagome to waste all her arrows and tire herself out so Kikyo could finish her off and claim her place in life.

But then Kikyo swivelled past her and Kagome was not only tired, delusional, and weak – but also very, very confused.

And then it hit her. Of course Kikyo didn't want to kill her. The last times she had tried to do so was simply because…. Well, she didn't know why, but she could at least tell that if it was up to Kikyo, she wouldn't have been there imprisoning Kagome and stealing the Sacred Jewel.

Why had she cooperated with Naraku then? It was all very confusing. Very. And in her state Kagome could barely think to figure it out, let alone take in what was happening around her.

So when she finally did manage to procure a semi-standing stance, and opened her eyes and mind far enough to grasp what was happening she was rudely shocked awake by the events.

Yasei – the bird and the companion they had both trusted was shrieking - shrieking so loud Kagome couldn't fall asleep now like she wanted to.

_I've got to stop this! Stay awake, come ON! Pay attention!_ Kagome shook her head to finally clear the sleep off. She concentrated on it with all her might and she finally broke through the dense cloud that had surrounded her and shielded her from reality.

Kikyo, for some reason, had her arrow in her hand instead of in the bow – which was in her other hand, and trying to evade swooping attacks from Yasei, who had turned into a bigger, scarier and un-cute version of himself. He looked a lot like the freaky Goddess, in a pterodactyl form.

"Kagome!" Kikyo called. "Do something!"

"What?"

"Do something!!"

"I know that! I meant, do what?"

Kikyo gave her an exasperated look from among the bird-swatting, gritted her teeth and started to run across the room towards her, shielding herself with her bow above her head (which was glowing with a potent aura), and with her arrow by her side.

They were now both back to back, hair dishevelled with glowing bows in hand, and one with an arrow to boot.

"All I need to do is get him with my arrow – but he's too fast and too agile so I can't shoot at him, and at the same time I have to watch my back. Can you do that for me?" Kikyo was concentrated on deflecting Yasei, who was sweeping at them from every angle and reaching out with his sharp beak, wingtips and clawed feet.

Kagome's mind was stuck on the last two words, "for me". However her decisiveness took over, glad for some instructions in the whole muddle – which was finally looking clear for the first time, and every time Yasei got close, she gave him a smart whack with her bow, enshrouded in priestess magic, which turned him away sharply. But not for long. And Kikyo trying to scratch him as hard as she could, and the arrow – as bright as it was with purification, was just not long enough.

After a while, Kagome got into the rhythm and as her limbs took over, her mind was slightly free to do some thinking. And it told her that they weren't getting anywhere. Slowly she could feel the exhaustion creeping over again, but she forced it out with a firm push of willpower. What could they do now? Kagome focused hard, and it became clear.

"Kikyo, we have to split up!"

Kikyo's eyes narrowed, taken aback by the offer. But it was true; they weren't getting anywhere - Yasei was too fast. "What's the plan, then?'

Kagome lowered her voice to a whisper, to ensure Yasei wouldn't listen in. The said bird had stopped, circling above and trying to catch glimpses of their conversation. "We run in different directions, to the nearest wall so we have something at our backs. Then if he goes for one of us, the other traps him between the two of us."

Kikyo nodded, face set. Kagome eyed the circling bird, and when he was at the furthest point away in his orbit, she whispered, "Now!"

The two priestesses broke apart, running for the nearest wall in their direction. Yasei paused for a moment, then went straight after Kagome. Kagome had expected him to go for her; she was the least equipped, after all. And apparently the least powerful.

On the first dive, Yasei went low, aiming for her legs. She nearly missed him, but at the last moment managed to reach down and use the bow as a bat, swinging at his head. He swerved away before it could connect.

The second time around, it was a full display of large outstretched wings, and clawed beak, with a berserker quality in the shine of his eyes, plus a loud ear-piercing shriek.

Kagome's hands flew up to her ears, momentarily forgetting everything but her throbbing eardrums. She sank down to the ground and stayed there, long after the shriek had ended. She didn't even move when Kikyo knelt down and called her name, with apparent concern in her face.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Sango could see them, bickering like always from behind her tree. It was lucky that the wind was blowing to her, not from her, or else Inuyasha would definitely find her. And she wasn't ready to be found. Not just yet.

From what it looked like, Kagome still hadn't come back. The worry and panic that had festered in Sango's brain just felt more justified.

As for the actual males in her group – they were acting normal and happy, but she could see they weren't really. For one, they all looked haggard. And older. Miroku was saying something that was hard to catch – something like, "Don't worry, Shippo, I'm sure Kagome will come back."

And Shippo then started to ask indefinite questions, like the kid he was… And Inuyasha just scoffed at most of them and let Miroku do the talking; but Sango could see he was burning to ask the same questions, if only someone would answer. Miroku, for his part, was managing better than she thought he would. Sango sighed, and Kirara behind her gave a worried squeal.

Sango was about to tell her she was fine when she heard something else Shippo asked. "What about Sango? Isn't she coming back?" Sango looked hard at Miroku from the foliage, and he for a moment looked very disconcerted. It almost made her leap out of the bushes and tell them she was here, till she heard Miroku's answer. "I'm not sure."

Shippo looked ready to bawl, and Inuyasha scowled and cuffed Miroku on the head for insensitivity. How rich. However, Sango didn't find that quite as comic as it should have been. _What does he MEAN, he's not sure? _Sango ground her teeth together and wondered if they knew her at all. OF COURSE she would come back, just like Kagome! How was she any different? Or was she less dependable, was that it? Wasn't someone who didn't disappear more probable to return than someone who did?

By now Kirara was distressed, and nudged Sango encouragingly towards the group in front of them. Sango grimaced, and looked down at Kirara. "I've decided I need more time off. Come on, Kirara."

She led her out of the bushes, where Kirara transformed and they flew away into the coming night. As Sango could remember, she had a certain missing brainwashed brother to save. She should stop wasting time and get on with finding him.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Why'd you say that, Monk?" Inuyasha cuffed Miroku on the head.

Miroku looked as downcast as Shippo. Inuyasha sighed mentally: he had two blubbering kiddies to take care of now. _Kagome, come back soon…_

"Well? OF COURSE Sango's coming back, Shippo. This idiot Monk just knows that he messed up, that's all." Inuyasha growled at Miroku, daring him to object.

Miroku stayed sullen. Shippo looked up at Inuyasha. "Really?"

"Keh. And why not?"

"Oh. But why's Miroku sad?"

"Cuz he's an idiot."

"Are all idiots sad?"

"No, most are…" Inuyasha glared at Shippo. "Was that question meant to mean something?"

Shippo gave him his most exasperated look. "Well, it was a sentence, wasn't it? If it wasn't meant to mean SOMETHING, why were words invented?"

Miroku snickered, brought out of his reverie. Inuyasha glared at the two of them viciously, then as an afterthought bashed both on the head.

"Inuyasha… that is most unholy behaviour towards a Monk."

"Yeah, Inuyasha."

"SHUTUP!"

"And what are we having for dinner?"

"Keh. Go get something if you're hungry.'

"What?"

"I dunno… what's that food we ALWAYS have?"

"Umm… fish?"

"Idiot."

"HEY! I'm not an – OWW. The sooner Kagome gets back, the sooner she can sit you till your face is squashed in."

"SHADDUP!"

"Now, now, children, be calm –"

"So what's for dinner? I want some ninja food."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Kikyo ran apart from Kagome as they had agreed. It seemed Yasei targeted Kagome – not all that surprising. Kagome was managing, but just barely. Kikyo, for a second, forgot what to do. Then reality came back and she looked at her arrow. _Time to finish what I started…_

Once again, the familiar feeling of the arrow and the bowstring overtook her mind – she waited for a good shot. Now - it was perfect. Yasei had his back to her, wings outstretched, vertically suspended like a perfect target. She couldn't miss.

The Sacred Arrow flew from Kikyo's bow in an elegant arc over to Yasei, and embedded itself in his back, and both the arrow and the bird erupted into a million lilac-hued fragments of light, disappearing into the heavens.

As Kikyo suspected, the dingy room fell apart, only to reveal even stranger surroundings. Kikyo had been right to suspect Yasei – he was the one who had been controlling the room. As he died, she felt all of her newly-gotten life force coming back. For the while in the room, she had felt dead again.

But something was wrong. Kagome wasn't getting up. She had crouched down on the floor, hands over her ears, and was still not moving.

Kikyo strode over to Kagome, and sat down quickly beside her. "Kagome?" She started out with a soft voice. She shook Kagome lightly by her shoulder, but Kagome was still unresponsive.

"Kagome!" Still nothing.

"Kagome, Yasei's gone. Please wake up. For me, please, Kagome. " Kikyo was alarmed now. What had happened to do this to Kagome? She remembered there was a shriek from Yasei – but she'd ignored it. Was that it? Or what?

Kikyo was worried in a way she hadn't been for a long time. The last time she remembered feeling like this was when she had accidentally, in battle, hurt Kaede's eye. Now she felt the same way, responsibility threatening to overcome her and drag her back into that sadness she had felt when she hurt Kaede… Kikyo remembered that that time, she had been weakened too, and had been shooting a demon who was right in front of Kaede, just like this time. She hated feeling like this.

"Kikyo?" For some reason, Kagome had expected her mother to be there when she opened her eyes. Distant memories of a voice calling her name came through, and she figured from the concern it must have been her mother. But it was Kikyo.

Somehow that didn't make her feel as bad as it should have.

"Hey Kikyo." Kagome yawned. "How long was I out?"

Kikyo stood up and said, "Not long."

"Why do I always get knocked out right during the battle?"

Kikyo permitted herself a rare laugh. "I don't know."

Kagome tried to ignore the fact that Kikyo really did just laugh. _It's not that strange, after all._ And failed miserably. She stared at Kikyo shamelessly, open mouthed with an expression of astonishment.

"What?" Kikyo figured there must have been something behind her, from Kagome's expression. There wasn't anything. She turned back around. "What?"

"Oh nothing." Kagome was busy thinking. _Isn't she meant to be dead and cold? _One part of Kagome's mind said. _You should know better, Kagome, _another part of her mind countered. _Oh fine! _The other part shut up. _Hah I won. _

Kagome shook her head to clear the unruly conversation. At this rate she would be going schizophrenic within the week. But her mind did have a point. Kikyo was not as bad as she was made out to be. But there was still so much between them it felt like she could never like her even if she wanted to. _Well, do you? Do you want to like her, or are you content to hate her like every other person in her life? _

"Huh?" Kagome asked.

"Where do you think we are?" Kikyo repeated. She had grown solemn very quickly again. It must be part of her life to be dead. Well, duh, as if priestesses have a real life.

* * *

AN: Oh wow. I finished it. Chapter 11, I mean. Not the story. I reckon the story itself though shall be finishing soon… ish… 

You know I do quite enjoy writing the dialogue between those three blockheads (Miroku Inuyasha and Shippo). Sorry bout the blockhead thing… though they are quite thick when they want to be.

Well, TELL ME WHATCHA THOUGHT! Yay! Reviews! Please… my inbox is lonely and dull without little review alerts for my fanfic. Plus, spill guys – the whole end-perspective-then-tell-story-again-from-different-perspective, is that working for me or not? I'm trying to improve techniques here.

PS If you're worried about Sango, you should be. I have no idea how I'm gonna solve that one… Sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain and write stuff I have no idea how to repair.

PPS Whoa long chappie.

PPPS Ah yes – more questions than answers. To console you guys, Kags and Kikyo will have a nice long discussion in the next chappie… if I don't get ahead of myself again and create more complications, that is.


	13. Sleepless

AN: Whooooa long break. Sorry. I can't even apologise, that's how bad I am. Well, I can. (SORRY!!!!) But… I can't find an excuse… Well, I SHOULD be doing something else (cough cough homework) but… it's so DULL and BORING…. And this just popped up… yay!

* * *

CHAPTER 12: SLEEPLESS

_Are you content… are you content… hate her… like… every other person… life?.. life?... life?... content… are you?... hate… hate… hate… life… _

"Hate… hate… I hate…you… Kikyo…Kikyo…" Kagome murmured, encased in a coat of sweat, turning restlessly on her side, not knowing anything in her delusional half-sleep.

Beside her, Kikyo froze. She had been keeping watch ever since Kagome had fallen asleep, having been tired out so much by the time in that room. Kagome had been turning restlessly all night, so Kikyo did not pay much heed to her sleepy murmurs, since they didn't make much sense anyway, and were mostly filled with words like "Inuyasha", "Gramps", "Sota", "Sango", "Mom", "Miroku", "Shippo", "ramen" and so on and so on. But now… it seems her subconscious has taken on a new direction.

Kikyo held her breath, hoping and yet half not-hoping to hear more. After all, there was nothing she could do, right? Well, nothing short of murdering her little copy in her sleep. Which, of course, was out of the question.

After what seemed like aeons, filled with more delusional words from Kagome, and the rustle of her clothes, nothing else seemed to live in those dead moments. Kikyo did not know how long she had been holding her breath, but the moment passed, and Kagome's words were once again centred on "sit", "ramen", and "Kirara".

_She's just dreaming. _Or was she? Kikyo had no way of knowing. Was it really meant as a sentence, or did she just say words that were randomly disconnected?

Kikyo decided to put this in the long, long list of things to consider while trying to straighten her mind out. And as she returned to that list, an event came to mind that she had neatly forgotten. When she had just been resurrected… Didn't she bind Kagome to a tree? And made her watch as Kikyo nearly dragged Inuyasha to Hell?

W_HAT WAS I THINKING??_ She inwardly screamed. Then she thought of her own answer, _Nothing. But I know that… I would do it again... and again… and again…_

Why? _Why indeed?_

It is the cruel fate of a priestess to suffer. For the purity you contain, you must have an outlet, a punishment, for all the sin you don't commit… _I'm weak. I don't blame her if she does hate me. _

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Thump. _Gahhh. _

THUMP. _Dammit. _

THUMP THUMP.

"Inuyasha, let us sleep, will you?"

"Keh."

Inuyasha slumped against the tree he had been kicking. Poor tree. It now sported several scratches and a large dent. Frankly, Inuyasha couldn't care less what the tree looked like. To him, a tree was a tree. And a Kagome was a Kagome. They just couldn't be anything other than what they were.

So why wasn't she being what she should be? Eg here, and not missing the Gods know where.

"Keh."

How come he never missed Kikyo this much? _Cuz you were under an enchanted sleep, idiot. _Great. Now his own mind insulted him. Just great.

He was sorely tempted to punch the tree again just to show it that he could, when it occurred to him that perhaps trees couldn't really converse… Not normal trees, anyway. He had seen some pretty freaky trees in his day… But that's another time. He was currently in _this_ time. And nothing was being done because right now he was currently devoid of any motivation to progress on with his Naraku-bashing.

How come he wasn't missing Kikyo as much?

"Feh!" He punched the tree. THUMP.

"INUYASHAAA!!!!!! Stop 'Feh'ing to yourself and either settle down or I'll make you!"

"Yeah, Inuyasha," a sleepy Shippo mumbled.

"Shaddup!" An increasingly red Inuyasha grumbled. He once again settled on the tree branch, fiddling with the sleeve of his robe. There was no way he was going to get any sleep tonight.

His mind decided to torment him some more. _Which do I like more?_ He didn't know. Kikyo was… Kikyo, and Kagome was… not here. A fact that Inuyasha found more irritating by the hour. Minute. Second.

'KEH!!!" THUMP.

"That's it!"

An irritated Miroku with bags under his eyes hopped his way to Inuyasha's branch and thumped him on the head with the blunt end of his staff. Then yawned.

"G'nighty-nighty." And hopped back down to the ground.

_NIGHTY-NIGHTY??? _Was this monk weird, or what? Well, he was half-asleep…

_Do I say weird things like that when I'm asleep? I wonder… _

And so the sad-fated half-dog-demon looked out to the sky at the twinkling stars, perplexed at this long, sad adventure most of us refer to as… life.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Kikyo felt sick. Maybe having some time alone wasn't so great after all, as the full impact of her life(s) hit her. First was disbelief, of course. How could she have gone through all that… in her first life?

And then, brought back… she had turned into a mere shadow of herself, consumed by hate, no longer the Kikyo everyone knew her to be. Kaede had known. Kaede had noticed, when she visited her. No wonder the old priestess wasn't all to happy to see her; in fact if Kikyo had met herself then, she'd probably have purified herself and sent her soul straight to Hell, no questions asked.

No point sticking around if you're as tainted as she was. Or, was she still tainted?

Hate had passed now, but Kikyo no longer felt pure. Frankly, she couldn't care what happened to her now, she was as dead as any Dead could be. She was willing to accept her Fate and accept Hell, but she had so much to do… Leaving was not yet an option.

Her eyes fell on the sleepy form of Kagome. She had previously thought that girl was a sick joke of the Gods, sent here to ridicule and mock her, to always shadow her. For what was she, if not an imitation? Imitations can _never_ be better than the original. The only case of that ever happening would be when the imitation stopped imitating the original, and became an original in itself…

"Umm, is there food around?"

Kikyo turned to Kagome, only just noticing that she had now awakened.

'I'm not sure."

"Oh yeah, we got moved again, didn't we…" Kagome patted her head, trying to get her hair in order.

"We can go looking, and seeing where we are, too, if you'd like."

_If you'd like?? _Was this Kikyo, or did someone abduct her and plant a nicer, indecisive one in her place?? Kagome stared once again, at Kikyo, who was still thinking, and not noticing anything at all around her.

"Uh, yeah that'd be good." Kagome lamely added, after a few missed beats.

Kikyo got up, still staring off into space. "This looks like the same place we were before, you know…"

"So does that mean we're still in that whatsits Goddess' realm?" Kagome rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"…Perhaps…"

"What do you mean? We're where we were before, aren't we? I mean, look at this tree, it's the same! And that's where we stayed! I know this place!" Kagome twirled around, enjoying sunlight for the first time in what seemed like days.

"I meant, if we were ever in the Goddess' – if there is one – realm in the first place…"

"Huh?" Kagome stopped short.

"I've been feeling strange ever since that time we first met her – she felt distant then. Then Yasei came, and she felt… more whole, nearer."

Kagome blinked. "So, when Yasei was closer, the Goddess took on a stronger form?"

"Yes… my senses were better too, when Yasei was not around."

"So it was all… Yasei?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps he is only a medium for a stronger force. But whatever it was, he was definitely the channel through which most of the evil energy flowed – and possibly still does."

"And… he said he was her servant to put the suspicion off him. He kept us believing. And all the time I was feeling really dizzy, too."

"You noticed earlier that you drained of strength after any major event… Right? It could have been that he was stealing some of your own strength, seeing as you're untrained and harness somewhat formidable powers, easy to tap into,"

_Hey! What does she mean by THAT?? _Kagome fumed.

"And, since we're still here, I daresay that he – or whatever was controlling him – is still keeping us captive."

"Naraku?" It was the first thought in Kagome's mind.

"I don't know, but this is… not Naraku's style,"

"I guess…" Though neither would put it past Naraku, it didn't seem right… Nothing seemed right.

"I guess someone has to ask this. How do we get back now?" Kagome sat down with a sigh.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

_I have no idea…_ Sango gave a grim look towards Kirara.

"Piu?" Kirara backed away from Sango's scary look.

"KIRARAA!!!!!!!" Sango fell sobbing against her beloved cat demon. "I don't know what to dooooooooo.."

"Piu!" (you're mishandling me!)

"Pyooo!" (oww you're heavy)

"But… I've left. And I can't go back, now can I? But I miss them so much! And I might never see Kagome again! And without her I'd never see Kohaku either!"

The scary night came back to Sango. The clouds, Kohaku's blade whirling through the thick air, Father's look as the blade bit into his back…

"…Help me Gods…" Sango sagged against Kirara, muffling her thick sobs in the shiny fur.

The sky gave a shudder, and rain, sweet drenching, wash-away-everything rain poured down on all those lucky, or unlucky, enough to be still outside.

Kirara settled into her giant-cat form, sheltering her master from most of the clear raindrops.

From the shade of a tall, tall tree, a young freckled boy, in almost the same outfit as Sango, looked on… _I wonder who she is… and why I remember her… _

His own master would want him back soon, so the boy couldn't stay. But as he ran through the dark woods, he still couldn't erase the images of that girl from his mind.

* * *

AN: WAAHA! DONE! Gosh, it takes so long for me to finish one chapter. Mainly cuz I do one bit one day, then leave it, then maybe half a week after - the next bit, and so on and so on, so I end up with infrequent chapters – but at least they make sense. Can anyone else feel the story coming to a close? I CAN I CAN OOHOHOOH ME!

Well – I have been mightily inspired by the Chinese music I am listening to (yes I know – I am a TRAITOR to JAPAN!)

BUT – I am also inspired by MOON Kana – one of the ONLY female J-rockers (and the best one I reckon) If you ever feel like something weird, wacked out and not making any corrigible sense try –Me Ga Haetashiki- by Moon Kana, or just Kana.

And also, praise to the mighty Kaori Yuki, creator of Angel Sanctuary, my latest infatuation. HATTER IS MINE!!! That is all, oh great readers! If you feel like telling me about your own musical indulgences – feel free! I am a music addict!

Is it just me, or do other people think Visual Kei is the greatest thing to happen to Japan since the frills and ribbons (and manga)?


	14. Slave

AN: I… have just found out… that Mad Hatter is actually a girl (I'm talking bout a character from Angel Sanctuary here) (sorry to youse who have no clue). mistarrymistress bursts into tears (her dream of marrying Hatter is forever shattered)

Well whadya know, it's lucky number 13….. my fave number, in fact.

* * *

CHAPTER 13: SLAVE

"Chiri." I will not.

_You will. _

Yasei squeaked in pain, as Tsubaki once again let her snake-demon loose on him.

_I was the one who gave you a mind. I am your master, and you. WILL. OBEY. _

With a last desperate squawk, Yasei freed himself from the clutches of the huge snake spirit, and flew away into the forest, in a sad plight.

Tsubaki pointed at a piece of paper in the form of a raven and flicked her hand, seeming nonchalant. The paper came alive, looking like a real raven. It squawked once, ruffled its wings, and awaited instructions.

"Find him, and bring him back."

Dispatched, the paper-raven flew off into the night after the unfortunate sparrow.

Alone, Tsubaki lightly smiled. She could afford to smile, now. She turned and walked towards an enchanted pentacle, outlined with little dishes with oil and flames burning. Inside, the prone bodies of Kagome and Kikyo lay, just as they were on the day they vanished from the field.

Above the two priestesses, two spirit-like forms of Kagome and Kikyo were moving within a floating orb, talking and acting in their own created world, none the wiser. Their little drama was being watched and monitored every step of the way by Tsubaki. And in front of the whole set-up, two glowing blue spheres could be seen, moving more and more together by every moment that passed, almost melded into one single one.

"Oh, my beautiful Kikyo… Did I not tell you not to lose your heart?" And Tsubaki threw her head back and laughed.

"Too bad you came back… my curse allows me some power over you, and that girl is so strong, but so misguided – she is so fun to play with…"

Tsubaki stepped into the pentacle, one long nail tracing the line of Kikyo's chin.

"And when the true powers of you and your look-alike are combined, they will be mine. Your combined energies are almost enough to overcome the Shikon Jewel itself! Do you know what that means? That means I'll be strong enough not to remain with this wretched, ugly face!"

Tsubaki's face twisted into an ugly sneer, and she dug her nail into Kikyo's skin, but no blood flowed. Tsubaki then allowed herself a little maniacal laugh again.

"A puppet… you are a mere puppet… And soon you'll be simply my own little doll…"

Her snake writhed, and hissed, in consent with its mistress. Tsubaki laughed once again, as her raven came back with the beaten Yasei.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

_I can't figure out my mind… What happened to the sun? _

… _Detached blurs…whirling, knowledge, price, confused? Maybe…_

_I see nothing. _

_The witch is calling. Must go… where is my mistress? The human with the elegant serpents, the ones that didn't hurt me… _

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Ugh!"

"What is it, Kikyo?"

"I feel disgusting. Like… like a snake just spat on my face…"

Kagome stopped. "But there are no snakes here. Not that I've seen, anyway."

"I know, not here, not here, and not a real snake, but..." Kikyo dropped to the ground, still touching her chin.

A red drop of blood spilled from a nonexistent cut on her lower cheek, and landed on Kikyo's finger. She stared at it in mixed wonder and horror.

"Kikyo! Kikyo, are you okay? You look like you've cut yourself!" Kagome fussed and talked, while Kikyo remained on the ground, frozen in her thoughts.

_Blood? Blood… Blood… Blood… BUT I'M NOT ALIVE!_

_ALIVE! ALIVE! ALIVE! ALIVE! ALIVE! Alive alive alive alive, not alive? Alive alive alive alive alive alive alive, let me live? _

_LIVE Live live live live live live, not living…_

_Death. Death comes to those, who, are not, alive. I… am not… alive? _

_HATE HATE HATE consume me consume, PUNISH! HELL! Tainted soul… Not good enough, perhaps? _

_PERHAPS… Perhaps I…_

"KIKYO!"

"Yes…" Kikyo fumbled for the word, the name – "Kagome?"

"Snap out of it! You scared me there for a while, anyway, it's not even a scratch!"

"I'm afraid that's not it." Kikyo stood up.

_Gosh, she's scary when she gets like this… I wonder if demons ever feel fear the second before she blows them to smithereens… _

"This isn't real."

"Huh??" Kagome looked puzzled. _NOW what in the world is she talking about? _

"KYYAH!!" She was nearly decapitated as Kikyo shot out with a blare of white priestess-magic from her hand at the nearest tree. Kagome warily got up, half-hiding behind the stump of the tree. "HEY! I liked that tree!"

"Look."

"Hmm? Ahh… I see… So… What does this mean?"

Kikyo gave her one of her death glares.

"Sorry, I'll drop the weird voice. Now – what DOES it mean?" And Kagome pointed towards the obliterated tree, which turned out to be very strangely hollow and un-tree-like on the inside, though it seemed exactly like a tree, and felt like a tree, and basically acted like a tree, on the outside.

"It's not real."

Kagome pouted. "You've said that already."

"Dark magic… psychosis… We've got to get out!" Kikyo whirled. "But how?"

"Gee, I dunno, isn't that what we've been trying to do for the last, umm, what, oh I dunno, I've lost track of time."

"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO IRRITATING?"

"Geez! Well, because we are stuck here with no foreseeable hope of getting out, I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"Well, I'm being serious!"

"Aren't you always!"

The two priestesses stopped, fuming at each other, not able to think of anything to say that wasn't really, REALLY personally offensive.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Tsubaki chuckled. "Oh, how cute. Don't you think you should break the two silly girls up, Yasei?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

An earth-trembling roar once again tore all other thoughts away from the two priestesses, who were just about to lose it.

"Not again…" They mumbled in unison.

"And we don't have any arrows this time!" Said a suddenly serious-yet-scared Kagome.

"We'll manage. Something tells me this whole business isn't lasting very much longer."

And as Yasei flew from afar towards them, once again in enlarged psychotic bird form, Kagome asked, "What- how do you know?"

"She's gotten less careful. And now I remember what those grey-green walls reminded me of."

"Really?"

"Err…no. But now it does all fit in."

Yasei let out another great roar, making both Kagome and Kikyo jump a bit involuntarily.

"Great. Tell me all about it when we're finished being viciously torn limb from limb, will you?'

"Gladly." Kikyo smiled. Even if she was annoying, it was amazing how Kagome still managed to stay strong in tough times….

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Oh, what a smart little cookie. She's got it all figured out… But it's too late, isn't it, my dear?" Tsubaki asked her snake, and it hissed menacingly at the sleeping forms of Kagome and Kikyo.

The two blue spheres were now just a hairline apart from completely being merged.

* * *

AN: Time's running out for Kags and Kikyo! Gosh, who knew I'd actually have enough… suspense… and drama to actually make a cliff ending! So proud…

OK! So it's not that good, and you can all guess what happens, but still! Let me enjoy my own story.

WELL! We can all tell it's about to conclude, though I still have a few plot twists (and oh my gosh a real plot - yes readers, you heard it, a real plot – though it's a bit late to finally come up with the whole thing, hey? Well, better late than never) to go. Ad it turns out kikyo wasn't alive after all... how sad. Let us mourn.

I hope the weird stuff is clearer now. If you don't get it, then here it is: all this time they've been living in their minds, under Tsubaki's spell. The 'why's are yet to be found out, but all the different scene changes, that was just Tsubaki messing with them. And Yasei… the second change of pov – that was him, the whole "where's the sun' bit. So yeah… is he a good guy… or a bad guy…. OOOOH. Find out when I can be stuffed to update. (I'm not very nice, am I?) Well, at least this update was fast! See yaz!

Plese tell me what you think will happen, what you think should happen, and all those encouraging things that tell me you are paying attention! WOOHOOH! (I'm happy right now)


	15. In A Reverie

AN: It might be just me, but it seems this fic is getting a bit more popular . Not having written for so long, naturally when I got all those reviews, I drooled… I'm just a bit fond of getting reviews. You know, just a bit. OK! Got my Aikawa Nanase music, and… I shall write!

PS Sors bout the delay. Had internal issues to work out before I could continue with external work… I'm like that.

PPS Preferred soundtrack for this chappie: Utada & Kiley Dean – By Your Side; Gackt - Miserable (Bloody good song. Bloody hot jap guy. Arguably, though), and KAT-TUN – Hesitate.

* * *

CHAPTER 14: IN A REVERIE

Another great roar shook the fragile little world in which Kikyo and Kagome were trapped.

"Careful, little birdie, otherwise you might just end things a bit too early…" murmured Tsubaki, her eyes glassing over as she thought of all the things that could go wrong right about now. None of which had occurred to Kagome and Kikyo, incidentally. She reached to her snake for comfort, her fingertips just lightly touching the grey-green scales.

She smiled.

"My precious, why don't you join the little dears? Stir them up a bit… Have some fun in the meantime… But remember, don't kill them. They mustn't die." She smiled at her familiar, who in turn hissed, and slithered down onto the ground and up into the glowing orb – the one with Kikyo and Kagome's likenesses.

"Just a little more…"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"AAH!"

Kagome had just very nearly dodged one of Yasei's great lumbering, thrashing limbs. Reaching aside to part a bit of hair from her face, she turned sideways to Kikyo, and remarked;

"He's not very coordinated, is he?"

Kikyo made a wry expression, "No, he's not."

"A bit of an overgrown chicken."

Though the description was apt, Kikyo didn't smile. She didn't like making a habit of it, either.

The truth was neither of them knew what was wrong with Yasei. Here he was, a great weapon of mass Kikyo/Kag destruction, and… it was as if whatever fuse had previously made him work properly, now had blown apart, and his limbs were not attached to his brain anymore.

As Kikyo and Kagome warily got to their feet again, Yasei's new mission was utter and complete annihilation of a nearby shrub, in true stuttering-chicken fashion.

"What now?"

"I… don't know." How many times had circumstances forced Kikyo to think, act or say this statement? It was not like her at all.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Damn!"

Tsubaki ground her teeth together in frustration. _Of all the things to go wrong… _She had forgotten she could only control one vassal at a time within her enchantment. And since she no longer controlled Yasei, it was impossible to extract him.

She now had to rely on her remaining servant… or no, perhaps it would not even take that long. Perhaps Kikyo and Kagome's powers would merge before anything went horribly wrong, and Tsubaki could simply turn them into one single puppet she could control.

Yes. That would be great. IF it worked out.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

_What is wrong with me?_

_The sunlight here is fake. I cannot see. I cannot act. I… am not me. Release me, please… _

_Hold on… my eyes can register a form, a shape… Is it the witch? It smells like her. It FEELS like her… no, it is not, it is her familiar… _

_Yasei must fight. Yasei must protect his master from harm! Then, perhaps, we will go back to the forest of light and darkness where we wandered, and I shall once again be me. _

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

The greatest battle was raging inside Kikyo and Kagome's plastic little world.

Yasei had stumbled upon a disgusting, monstrous, grey-green snake, with poison dripping from its fangs, and the over-large sparrow had somehow gained control of his limbs and was now engaged in one of the most handicapped great battles of all time.

Handicapped, because neither the snake nor the sparrow seemed to be in control of their full senses. The two giants just kept going at each other, slowly, with most of their attacks missing, and uncoordinated feathers, scales, coils and claws lashing out all over the place. Kagome and Kikyo could only watch in half-fear and half amusement; with a small clock inside Kikyo ticking ever nearer to its destination, and for some reason, more so than the battle between Yasei and the snake, this scared her. Infinitely. Something big was happening and for once Kikyo didn't know what it was, nor how to stop it.

"What should we do?" Kagome asked. The obvious question had been going round her head for a while, and Kikyo had her thinking expression on, which indicated to Kagome that Kikyo probably had SOME answers.

"Ah… Kagome…" Kikyo turned to Kagome's eager expression. What a child Kagome was. She doesn't know what is at stake, even. Yet her determination forces her through anything, and her character and will to live surpasses that of anyone Kikyo had previously met. Here was a rough jewel, no – a hidden jewel, and her heart could probably create a Sacred Jewel rivalling even that of Midoriko's, out of purity and love. Never to be tainted. She could grant any wish through the goodness of her heart.

Why had she ever hated her? Kikyo felt drowsy, and collapsed to her knees, all the while thoughts once again swirling round. Ah yes, Inuyasha. That poor deluded half dog-demon that thought he owed something to her. Yet he didn't realise when he met her, that Kikyo was not as sure of herself as he thought she was. No, if anything she was even more confused. Shunned by most of society and banned from normal life, Kikyo was more broken inside than anything Inuyasha had ever been. Their demoralised selves merged into one because they were like two broken halves wanting to be a whole. It might have even worked.

She shouldn't have fallen in love. A life of love and tenderness was not Kikyo's destiny. What misery straying from one's path brings…

Was this Destiny's second chance to her? This young, new version of the cold priestess, was she the safety net rather than the fatal push? When Kikyo compared Kagome to herself, it seemed Kagome was more Kikyo-like than even Kikyo. Everything Kikyo had aspired to be, had wanted to become, was also the reality of Kagome. Was Kagome the dream, and Kikyo the reality, or was it the reverse? Was Kikyo the nightmare, and Kagome the soft vision of reality?

A cold, yet welcome thought hit Kikyo's mind. PERHAPS – simply PERHAPS – KIKYO was the imitation? No wonder Inuyasha had felt attachment to her. The attachment was mere pity! Pity for a doll that had been chucked away and left behind.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"KIKYO!!!!" Kagome screamed, her throat raw, for the umpteenth time.

This wasn't happening; just when she had gotten used to the dead broad, everything had to go wrong – AGAIN! Kikyo had firstly fainted, and now she was disappearing! Literally! Kagome's mind panicked. Everything was wrong again, and she was already so alone, she didn't want to be alone again. What would she have done without Kikyo all this time? It wasn't fair!

While Kagome's mind screamed injustices and scalding tears rolled their leisurely way down her cheeks, the deafening shrieks of Yasei and the spiteful hisses of the snake reverberated on and on in the little world as, finally, the fabric of the dimension began to tear apart and the world unravelled…

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Yes! YES! Just a bit more!!!" Tsubaki had lost all pretensions of the spell. The world containing the consciousnesses of Kikyo and Kagome came apart at the edges, and the bubble floating above Kikyo and Kagome burst. Yasei was once again a tiny sparrow, and the snake was its normal size, crawling out of the spot in the air where the bubbles had been. The tiny sparrow flitted around the snake and tried its best to poke its eyes it with his beak.

To Tsubaki, though, none of this mattered, because she already had the nearly-merged globes containing Kikyo's and Kagome's powers in her hand.

* * *

AN: Well, that's done! Once again, sorry about the wait. I had to get my act together in more than one sense. THANKYOU to all of you who are STILL THERE, and I have not missed a single one of your reviews! In fact, often I just read them over and go, "Awwwww…" Well I shall not blab because, well, I think I blab too much at the end of each chapter. SEE YA!!!!! Story's nearly done! ish. 


	16. Dreams

AN: I miss that weird little disclaimer. I feel lonely. I think I'll put one in!

Disclaimer: The little me does not own the little Inuyasha. Do all the big people comprehend??

* * *

CHAPTER 15: DREAMS

_What? Why? This darkness is weird… Kikyo, why did you leave me? Kikyo? KIKYO! Don't leave! I don't want to be alone again…_

An image of a happy, smiling, dancing Kikyo flitted away, back into the dark.

_Though… _

_But I'm not really alone, am I? I have friends now. Friends. Like Kagome! Kagome. She's been here for me. Why did she leave too?_

_KAGOME! WHY DID YOU LEAVE?? _

Inuyasha jolted awake. It felt as if every part of his body had been cruelly pricked with unseen thorns. Something BIG had just happened. And it wasn't just him either.

From his tree, Inuyasha could hear the sleepy grumbles and words of Miroku and Shippo. It seemed as though, at that moment, everything in the world had just been pricked awake.

An unusual hum filled the forest world. Absolutely every living creature was awake, at the same time. It was unusual. Abrupt. The order of life was, temporarily, broken.

Something had indeed just happened, and somehow, it had the power to change all their lives.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

_The moon, the moon…I can finally FEEL it!! The witch has finally lost interest in me._

_If only I could find my mistress again… Who else would take care of her if not for me? _

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

_NOW!_

"Gryaaaawwwr!" Kirara roared into the night. The prickling sensation was a bit harsher on demons (and half-demons) than humans. But that didn't stop the latter from feeling them too.

"What was that?" Sango sleepily murmured, quickly trying to sort through events in her mind. There were bags under her eyes and she was considerably skinnier than last time.

"Kyyyyyyyawr!!" Kirara transformed into her large demon version.

"Yeah, I guess that means we check it out." Sango didn't know what she was doing anymore. This was like the last thread of sanity her life had; if this was a blind goose chase for… what? She didn't even know anymore. But SOMETHING had better happen.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Owww…"

Once again, Kagome found herself on the ground. And, guess what? Yep, covered in leaves. Feeling slightly dysfunctional and majorly disorientated, this young priestess nevertheless managed to drag herself onto her knees.

If Kagome's head didn't crack first from her headache, then her teeth surely would from the way she's been grinding them so far. She carefully brought her hands to her ears, hoping that would shut out some of the outside world and perhaps help with her head. It did – a little.

It also allowed her to actually take in what was happening around her. She seemed to be in a pentacle of some sort. Some enchantment, a ritual - perhaps? But Kagome forgot all this when she noticed the prone body of Kikyo lying next to her, unmoving.

"Kikyo! KIKYO! Can you hear me? Please wake up!" Kagome reached out to Kikyo – and recoiled in shock. Kikyo was COLD. Once again, Kikyo was of clay.

That was the way she was always meant to be… So why was Kagome so surprised, and strangest of all, sad? Maybe it was the solitary confinement. Especially with the person you disliked – even hated – the most, it could actually make you like them. Or was it something else? Was it getting to know Kikyo the person, not Kikyo the priestess? Was it laughing, eating, and living with her?

Or was it _understanding_ Kikyo? Beyond trivial emotions and characteristics, there was the inner soul and being of a person. Could Kagome have, somehow, throughout their time, touched on the essence of Kikyo?

Yes. She had.

As the answer came to her, Kagome could not stand it anymore. Tears began falling of their own will against her cheeks, dripping off the tip of her chin onto Kikyo's face, until any bystander would not have been able to tell if it was Kikyo or Kagome that was crying, or even, who was who.

Unheard by Kagome, Tsubaki let off a little girlish giggle, quite unbefitting her image.

"Oh. How cute."

And she cackled evilly into the damp night air.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Whoa! Miroku, get up!!" Inuyasha tried, unsuccessfully, to lift his monk friend up by his robes – which were way too loose and large for the job.

"Ugh. Give me a bit, would you?" Miroku slowly made his sleepy way up vertically until he was his normal height. "Huh. Is it just me, or is there a-"

"-Massively evil aura emanating from the south-east? YES, SO MOVE IT!!!!!!!" Inuyasha growled. It didn't feel like Naraku, but it did feel familiar… And it might have something to do with Kagome and Kikyo. He didn't have time to wait for Miroku.

Inuyasha started sprinting, jumping in the treetops. The aura was coming from nearby… hopefully he wouldn't be too late.

Miroku followed closely on ground level, with a screaming Shippo trailing from his robes, begging for a reduction in speed.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

I…

What have I done? What have I been? What am I?

I…

I am a great priestess. I am a beacon of purity, discipline and righteous force. I am strength for the weak, compassion for the steel mind, punishment for the steel sword. I… am what people make me into.

Not who I am, nor who I wish to be. I am Kikyo, the woman who gave up her life to become a true priestess. A true priestess but not a real identity. Truth and reality – are they that far apart? I have made myself with words and might that - which I could never be with love and life. Even before I died my life was over. It was given over to dedication to perfection. I have made myself into a demi-god without humanity. Or, perhaps, my _lack_ of humanity made me? Did I really believe I was in control of my destiny?

Or perhaps, I knew all too well that I could no more control who I was becoming than I could control the circumstances that made it all so.

I have covered myself up with weapons, scathing looks and distance into something I no longer recognise. Did I ever? When I looked into the mirror, was my reflection even mine? For it seemed to me that I could never have been so cold, so remorseless.

I didn't believe in my reflection. I didn't believe in me. Was that my flaw?

While I was alive – everyone thought me to be …? Ah yes, a _priestess. _I remember. I had thought that that was the same as a human being. If I could laugh now I would. I was gifted. I had no choice. I chose.

A human being could love. I could not – or perhaps I could love only so much. A human being _needs_ as well as _wants_. I could only ever be one.

And whenever I look into _her_ eyes I feel peace. Peace with myself, even though I do not know who myself is. Or maybe I do. Perhaps it is _her_?

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Tears, wetness. A horrid choking lump in her throat. Burning cheeks – not from shame, nor passion. No, it was from numbness. And perhaps a mess of nerves and emotions. Kagome just couldn't process anything right now.

"What… WHY?" Kagome did not even think of the _how_.

It simply didn't occur to her. Just as a thousand other things never occurred to a thousand other souls

_Just as truth never occurs to any of us. It's all LIES, LIES, LIES. And a want – no NEED – to be perfect. Hmm. Which is it?_

Tsubaki went through a strange moment of pondering off-the-topic. Ironically, this was exactly what had **occurred** to Kikyo just a few (or maybe a million…?) moments ago in another time, another world. And in the moment of those million that Tsubaki's thoughts chanced upon Kikyo's, Kagome and Kikyo's two power-spheres (or, at least, representations of them) had finally blended. Into one.

The tension building up in the forest snapped. Like a thick, taut string.

Like this:

SNAAAAAP!!!

Bits of energy flying everywhere. Oh yes, pandemonium reigned all right. For now, Chaos was the queen.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"WHAT THE –" Miroku never finished the curse – Shippo interrupted him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Miroku, SLOW DOWN!!" Shippo was holding on to the very last –longest– hairs of Miroku's ponytail.

"I can't, I – Inuyasha- WOULD YOU LET GO?" Miroku jerked Shippo off his ponytail, and without breaking the pace, settled the little fox demon upon his shoulder.

"WHAT THE HECK?" Inuyasha roared from above them, finally realising the 'problem'.

"I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SAY THAT!!!" Roared Miroku back. If this kept on, they'd be hoarse by the time they got to wherever it was.

A new contestant joined the roaring contest:

"GYAWRR!!" Greeted the fiery cat-demon.

"I know, it's crazy, hey – SANGO??" Miroku stopped, stunned.

"Hop on."

Miroku obliged, as Kirara swooped down to collect them.

"A brief statement for someone who's been away so long. You don't look too good, either, you're all skinny - OWW!" Miroku nursed his sore face, freshly slapped.

"Haha. Lecher." Shippo taunted. "Good to see you back, Sango. You too, Kirara. It got irritating being the only demon in the place."

"Thanks."

"Grawr."

And that was it. Apart from a similarly short greeting from Inuyasha, they were back together - just like that… without Kagome, of course. As if they had never been apart.

But maybe the reason they couldn't talk was because of the 'problem' – a sudden exodus of every living woodland creature for miles. Above the whole stampede, Kirara, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Inuyasha – among the treetops – witnessed this insane event. All the little wolves, bears, squirrelly-things, birds and other such inhabitants of the quiet woods were making their very quick, loud way AWAY. And in the centre of the mass departure was a little clearing, glowing with eerie light and reeking of foul magic.

"I can sense them!" Inuyasha yelled.

Nobody asked who because they similarly, could sense them too. The pace picked up just that little extra bit.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Naturally, with the combined harnessed powers of two of the strongest priestesses the world has ever seen since Midoriko, Tsubaki dropped all pretence at not being there. That caused all her strong and highly detectable magic to leak out of the careful border she had maintained over the last months.

But - who cares? Midoriko was just ONE priestess. And look at what her powers (with a hundred demons) had made – THE Sacred Jewel. Then came Kikyo – a priestess almost as good as Midoriko, and then came Kagome – an equal to Kikyo. What pretty little wish-divining Jewel could THEIR powers make? Especially if combined? It would SURPASS the Sacred Jewel!

All one had to do was get the two priestesses' powers magically bonded. In such a way that it would replicate the situation in which the original Sacred Jewel was created. That would, normally, be impossible – any two priestesses would be too dissimilar for it to work. But if they share a soul…?

It's perfectly possible.

A Sacred Jewel was simply another deposit of power – like sutras that monks use. Only sutras are weaker, and less pure – they are simple charms that contain only a fragment of spiritual power. A Sacred Jewel is a complete draining of any power a priestess or other being might have – magic, in Jewel form.

The process that Tsubaki used was different to Midoriko's – but the same requirements applied. A life. And power.

The globe of priestess-magic hovering just above Tsubaki's outstretched hands was blinding. Light, purity – essence of the priestesses.

Kagome had by now turned her eyes to Tsubaki as well.

"What is that?" Her quiet voice whispered to no-one in particular. Her own senses answered her: she knew a Sacred Jewel when she saw one. Those powers of hers, at least, had not been drained.

Kagome shuddered. She felt empty. She felt weak. Her eyelids seemed to close themselves, and she fell onto the ground, next to Kikyo.

Tsubaki herself had voluntarily frozen into a pose – she couldn't extricate herself from the building anticipation. THIS was her moment. _Nothing_ could ruin it…

* * *

AN: This was my 'proudest' chapter yet. I feel really really good about it. It has a lot of satire, and a lot of 'duhhhh' moments. As you might have noticed. PLEASE don't pick on the little 'how did Tsubaki do it?' thing. I know that in the anime series someone else tried making fake Jewels… And failed. I only remembered that when I started that last section. But oh well. Let's just say – for my convenience – that Tsubaki did _somehow_ manage it. Ok?? Happy? Thank you!! Please review! And thanks for sticking with me this far if you're reading this!

Wow... lots has happened. DID I ACTUALLY MOVE THE PLOT (yay! i have one...) FORWARD?? WOW!


	17. Another Jewel?

AN: Kirikirikirikiriayayayayaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!

I just really wanted to do that…

* * *

CHAPTER 16: ANOTHER JEWEL??

Even with Kirara's demon speed, she still had trouble keeping up with Inuyasha. Inuyasha himself was not even aware of the speed he was going at. More probably, he wasn't aware of anything, except for the fact that Kikyo and/or Kagome might be found just ahead.

Beneath him, one could no longer see the forest floor. It was a living carpet of rushing animals, loud and thundering, all going in the opposite direction to Inuyasha's little band.

"It's lucky we have Kirara, isn't it?" Miroku ventured. "Otherwise we'd be crushed alive…"

Sango had still not said anything. Now that she was back with people – her friends, she felt welcomed and accepted; even though she never knew she missed it. Loneliness was not one of the feelings the demon-slayer felt often. She had always had someone. Her family, and after … the incident… she had quickly found this odd band of travellers.

She didn't want to be alone again. And she wasn't letting anything get between her and her friends… or were they family?

Her knuckles tightened around the straps on her Hiraikotsu. Whatever had happened to Kagome, the person responsible had a lot to answer for.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Tsubaki had not moved. She was enraptured with the glow of the Jewel, the feeling of the power radiating from it… It was beautiful. Radiant. Even more so, when she thought of what it represented.

It was her life's dream, it was what she had longed for - even before it was made! She had always wanted the other Sacred Jewel. But this one was so much more –

"CHIRII!!"

Something small and annoying pecked her dangerously close to her eyes. She finally moved, to swat it away. It kept returning. What was it doing?? Didn't it understand that it was inconsequential? It was weak. It couldn't do ANYTHING to stop her. She diverted her gaze from the Jewel, to address little Yasei coming straight at her face. Unable to move that fast, she got a painful lengthy scratch on her cheek, which was already stinging.

Tsubaki growled. It dare mar her beauty? Her hand stretched out and blasted a gust of bright white magic at the sparrow. It hit Yasei directly, and he fluttered to the ground, unconscious.

Before Tsubaki could return her attention to the Jewel, a scratchy out-of-breath voice called out from behind her,

"Tsubaki!"

Inuyasha had arrived. He stood, panting from the effort of running so far, with his eyes narrowed to the point of invisibility, all his pent-up anger directed at the priestess.

Tsubaki simply smirked. Her snake-familiar was still hanging on round the side of the two sleeping captives, and it was it that Tsubaki motioned to with one clawed finger:

"Kill him".

The snake hissed, raised itself up, and lunged at Inuyasha, who had just then noticed Kikyo and Kagome lying on the ground.

"KIKYO! KAGOME!" Haphazardly, he ran towards them, failing to register the snake right in front of him.

"Hiraikotsu!"

Just as the snake was about to hack off a bit of Inuyasha's shoulder with its fangs, the giant boomerang hit it in the middle of its forehead, propelling it backwards with its propulsion. The boomerang then raised itself up into the air and spun back towards the waiting hands of Sango.

Shippo and Miroku jumped off Kirara, and joined Inuyasha near the prone bodies of the two priestesses. Nobody really had time to take in the revelation of them still being alive, because it seemed as though Kikyo and Kagome were halfway dead.

"Their pulse is very weak," declared Miroku, after feeling Kikyo and Kagome's wrists.

"Damn." Hissed Inuyasha. He turned to face the other priestess. "You did this."

Tsubaki was having a very, very fun time. She smirked… again. "Naturally, my dear."

"Well," began Inuyasha, "Do you know why you're still alive?"

Tsubaki didn't answer.

"Because I need to know whatever you did to them, so that I can make you undo it, after which I plan to kill you." He glared at Tsubaki from under his long fringe, his nails already digging into his palm to draw blood - and was generally poised to start tearing Tsubaki apart.

"Them?" Giggled Tsubaki. "Don't you mean her?"

"Who?" Inuaysha was running out of restraint.

"Well, whichever one you choose to save, my dear… That's if you're still alive."

"STOP CALLING ME YOUR DEAR! I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW! BLADES OF BLOOD!"

As the attack neared Tsubaki, she waved one hand and conjured a barrier that deflected it.

Miroku stood, after making sure there was no immediate way to revive either Kagome or Kikyo, and stood beside an enraged Inuyasha, with Kirara and Sango in the rear.

"Don't forget to use Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha!!"

Inuyasha _had_ actually forgotten to use his sword, which prevented him from becoming a crazed bloodthirsty demon.

"Yeah, thanks. Tetsusaiga!"

Drawing his sword, which instantly transformed from its simple katana blade to the giant demon fang, the group of friends stood ready to annihilate the evil priestess – with Shippo on guard over Kikyo and Kagome.

"Heh… Don't you know you're too late?" Chuckled Tsubaki.

A feeling somewhat akin to this had been running through the minds of each of them, but they didn't let it show.

"Listen, if you don't tell us now what you've done with Kagome and Kikyo – then we'll just fight and ask questions later." Miroku cautioned.

"Isn't it obvious? They were the main ingredients to a most delectable dish of mine."

"What dish?" Asked Miroku.

"Oh, just this one…" Tsubaki held out her hand, with a shining, small spherical object in it.

"Could that be…" Whispered Sango.

"A Sacred Jewel." Smiled Tsubaki. "With it, I could destroy your pathetic little selves in less than a second. It is infinitely more powerful than the previous one."

"What? But how?"

"It has the soul of two sensational priestesses. It needs no further magic. Now, witness its power!" Tsubaki's whole form lit up in spectacularly bright light.

"Run!" Yelled Miroku, diving to the side, with the rest of the group doing likewise... Even Inuyasha, who temporarily forgot his pride.

Behind them, in the spot where they had been just a moment ago, only a smoking crater remained from the power of the new Jewel.

"Damn! She wasn't lying." Cursed Miroku. He was next to Inuyasha in the bushes, while Sango and Kirara had flown off into the sky, and were currently doing their best to get Tsubaki off balance with the Hiraikotsu and Kirara's flames.

"But… Midoriko… and a hundred? Hmm, maybe thousand – demons made the other Sacred Jewel. And they died, right?" Asked Inuyasha, puzzled.

"Right. But her method was probably different than incarcerating a thousand demons with a priestess and then blowing a hole in the priestess' heart." Answered Miroku.

Recovering from his meditative state, Inuyasha said, "So all we have to do is get the Jewel off her! Then she has no power, and I can finish her off!"

"Inuyasha, you're not finishing anyone off. We have to find out how to revive Kagome and Kikyo, and I'm guessing Tsubaki is the only one who knows how."

"Well, right. Then I just get the Jewel." With this, Inuyasha leaped out of the bushes and headed straight for Tsubaki.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Miroku, strangely didn't follow him. He just watched Tsubaki… There was something very odd about her. What was it??

_There must be something… If I don't think of something, Kagome, Kikyo, Sango, Inuyasha – we will all die!_

Suddenly – after watching Inuyasha get dumped on his behind for the tenth time – a notion occurred to Miroku – _that's it! She says it's a Sacred Jewel… Why is she only holding it in her hand, instead of absorbing it into her body like everyone else with the other Sacred Jewel? There must be a reason!

* * *

_

AN: Sorry to leave you hanging there… But it is a very nice way to end this chapter. I think so anyway. OOH GOSH there was some ACTION earlier! Please tell me how well I did it! I shall be trying much harder for the next chapter for all of you who bother to read! Thanks anyway! please... REVIEW!! yay!


	18. Transparent

AN: Urrm reviewers dears, are you awake? I mean really, just drop a line. Actually, do whatever you want. I'm glad you're reading this in the first place. (mistarrymistress goes off and hopes the reverse psychology worked…)

Holy cow it's chapter 17!!!!!!!! Didn't I say it was finishing SOOON in chapter… 13?? I'm a liar then...

* * *

CHAPTER 17: TRANSPARENT

"HEY UGLY!" Yelled Miroku, emerging from behind his safe patch of bush directly into the line of fire.

Everyone – even Kirara and Shippo, Sango and Inuyasha, as well as the intended 'ugly', Tsubaki – turned towards the seemingly loony monk. Seriously, there's an angry berserker priestess with a Sacred Jewel ten times stronger than the last one – and he dares insult her? He must have snapped. Too much time in the bush does that to you, maybe.

A stunned silence.

"Yeah, you – snakey-woman!" Miroku by now was less sure of his plan and his voice wobbled, but it seems he'd gone too far to go back.

"What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?" Tsubaki whispered from behind gritted teeth.

"Snake-" Miroku began.

"Before that!"

If Miroku repeated what he said, then she would blast him all the way to Hell and back round to Heaven. What he needed was for her to listen, not chuck a spastic foaming fit.

"That really doesn't matter, priestess. I've got a question for your esteemed self."

"What?" Tsubaki snapped. Meanwhile she began gathering a large power-sphere around her, something looking dangerously like a fireball, most likely intended for Miroku.

Miroku gulped. "Are you afraid?"

"What?" Tsubaki narrowed her eyes. _He's got to be kidding._ She wasn't in the mood for games. Playing with dog-boy had been entertaining for a while, but this CREEP had gone too far.

"I mean, you've got a lovely Jewel there."

Crickets chirped somewhere in the distance.

Tsubaki's eyes narrowed even more.

_WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT FOOL DOING??? _Thought Inuyasha, twitching his ears around. _Maybe NOW while he's distracting her I can properly do my Wind Scar! The hag kept disrupting my balance every other time!_

"Why don't you use it?" Continued Miroku, getting more acquainted with an unearthly silence.

_HUH? _Thought everyone, apart from Miroku and Tsubaki. The monk and the priestess stared at each other, Tsubaki finally realising what he was onto.

_Damn. The faster I get rid of him, the better._

As the fireball was finally launched in his direction, Miroku was ready for it. He jumped sideways, yelling, "Now, Inuyasha!"

"Got it! Wind Scar!" Only now, Inuyasha had even managed to get the Red Tetsusaiga – straight for Tsubaki's barrier.

Sango doubled in to the attack, throwing her Hiraikotsu, combined with Kirara's fire – a flaming Hiraikotsu!

"Come on, Tsubaki! Why are you so afraid to absorb the Sacred Jewel? What – is it too PURE for you?" Taunted Miroku.

Tsubaki, having – barely – dodged all of the attacks, was now suspended above their heads, barrier intact. Not a happy priestess.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Inuyasha..." _Is that his voice?_ Kagome stirred in her sleep. _Wind Scar! ..._ _I could swear I heard him shouting. _

"Kagome? Kagome! Are you waking up? Please wake up. I want you to wake up. I need you to. Please Kagome…" Shippo ranted, wiping his tears away.

_A familiar voice… But not Inuyasha's. Hah, funny – I'm actually wondering how Kikyo is doing. She better be okay, for all the trouble she put me through, that talking doll… _Kagome's strained face relaxed into a little ironic smile, before delving into the realm of the subconscious once again.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Awake, Kikyo.

What?

Awake.

I am. Wait, who are you? Where…

Kikyo opened her spiritual eyes, into a void. She could see nobody, nothing. It wasn't even a colour… just nothing. Her soul seemed to be suspended in time. Or space…?

Is this death?

No answer.

What am I here for, then?

The silent humming of the void filled the silence. It seemed as though a part of Kikyo that was missing came back. Kikyo realised she could see a translucent version of herself. Hey, she _was_ the translucent version. Kikyo opened her bodily eyes, into the same void. Though it felt different through a half-body.

Nothing real could exist in this space, though simple forms – not material – can be constructed for a short time.

Again – what am I here for?

To think, Kikyo. Think about why you are here, and not there.

Where?

No answer.

Though perhaps there was an answer – for next she did begin thinking. Though she didn't want to, her mind went through her 'life'.

Are you satisfied, Kikyo?

No.

Then – you have regrets.

Kikyo found out that this body could cry. Unfeeling tears made their way down her artificial cheeks. Still – no. No regrets.

Emptiness.

You have made mistakes.

Yes.

You made wrong decisions.

Yes.

Would you change them to the right ones?

Kikyo's body bent over, kneeling before this unknown power questioning her. There were no lies to be said. She was transparent – in mind and body.

I would change nothing.

The power did not go away – the emptiness was not complete. It was there, contemplating. Thinking. What could it possibly have to think about? It knew everything. What? The power was confused? How could it be?

Emptiness.

You would change nothing…

That is correct.

Why?

Though I made wrong decisions, they were MY decisions - I did them in full faith. I do not go back on them. If it is in my nature to be wrong, then that is the only way I wish to be. If I could not be true to myself, I would suffer far more than I have so far and forevermore.

Contemplation.

Emptiness.

Fade out.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Well? You're a priestess, aren't you? Sacred Jewels should be nothing to you."

"I… AM NOT… AFRAID!!!" A rain of fire swept over the group. Miroku just had time to set up a shield with his staff, Sango had to duck under Kirara, and Inuyasha seized this wonderful opportunity to use his Backlash Wave.

"Backlash Wave!" Though the tremendous sea of fire was somehow diverted back to Tsubaki, it just bounced off her barrier.

"Damn…" Muttered Inuyasha.

An enraged Tsubaki swept down to earth. "Fine." _The monk's right. This is nothing!!! Why don't I use it and show them all what lovely skeletons they make? _

"You want me to kill you? Too happy to oblige, Sir Monk." Tsubaki moved to press the Jewel into her neck. As it was halfway in, the barrier failed because of the change of power, and Yasei, that loyal little sparrow, fully recovered, darted towards Tsubaki's neck at an attempt to get the Jewel away from her.

"AH!" Tsubaki just had time to move the Jewel away from the sharp beak, but it did get her neck. A thin line of red blood began dripping. This had happened within seconds, so Tsubaki's barrier was up almost immediately again.

"Chiiiiriii!!" An angry Yasei perched on a nearby branch, annoyed at the failed attempt.

"Keep going, Tsubaki. Don't stop there just because of a little bird." Miroku was by now, rather unsure. It had gone halfway in – nothing had happened. Maybe she really wasn't afraid. Maybe it was fine – maybe they were all going to die very, very soon.

This time Tsubaki smirked. She didn't hesitate. The Jewel went right into her neck, barrier unbroken the whole time._ That little lapse of concentration wouldn't happen again… _Tsubaki was very happy now. It had gone in! Nothing bad had happened!

Everything was – Tsubaki felt suddenly sick. _What...? Don't tell me that Monk was right… _Her body felt like it would disintegrate, into a million shining fragments.

It did. Tsubaki, along with her scary snake, burst into a million fragments - purified by a priestess' soul.

The Jewel dropped to the ground, tinkling, innocent, shining.

"Oh crap." Miroku muttered.

"WHAT??? HELL YES DAMMIT! SHE'S GONE!" Inuyasha yipped. He resheathed his Tetsusaiga, going over and heartily thumping Miroku on the back. "Great going, BUDDY. It WORKED! I'm not sure how or why, but it did! And we've got a kicka jewel to boot!"

"But Inuyasha…" Sango began, "How will we revive Kagome and/or Kikyo?"

"Oh… CRAP."

"Chiriii!" Yasei hopped over to the Jewel and picked it up in his beak.

"Chi!"

* * *

AN: Mwwwwwwwwaaaahhahahahahhahahhahha…. That is all…for this chapter anyway. Sorry. I'm writing the next chapter NOW though. 


	19. Talking Birds! And Badgers

AN: Greetings again! Am I the only one who noticed that AN are the initials of alice nine.? I mean the band not Alice 19th the manga. Though that works too. I guess it's the initials of a lot of things…including Author's Note, and Artist's Note too… oh whatever. Yasei-Hane with the jewel, here we go. Guess he's a good birdy after all. He was being controlled by Tsubaki for most of the time remember…. And he DID try to escape… COME ON, I need Yasei fans!!! My only OC thing in this whole fic!

Well… besides the badger. CAN YOU SPOT THE BADGER???

* * *

CHAPTER 18: TALKING BIRDS! (AND BADGERS)

"Is it just me, or is that bird talking to us?" Inuyasha wondered aloud.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Miroku, Sango and even Kirara did a little sweatdrop-sigh. Inuyasha could be sooo dense.

"OYYYYYYY!!! Are you guys done out there?? Kagome twitched like, two times but that's it. Neither she nor Kikyo have shown any signs of waking up… IS ANY OF YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME???"

"Of course!" Sango replied. "If there were any animals left in the forest, they'd have woken up."

Just as a really, really random, on-cue one-off, a badger waddled out of the opposite bushes and grunted discontentedly at the group. After making about five of these annoyed grunting sounds it eventually waddled back into his designated patch of leafy ferns and fell –literally. There was a THUD and everything- asleep with a loud snore.

Crickets chirped in the distance.

The moon happily decided now was safe to show up, and all the dark clouds that had gathered scattered. In fact everything was back to Normal. Whatever that was in Feudal Era Japan.

The group, as one, blinked. Once. Then again. Then they rubbed their eyes and pinched themselves just to ascertain that they did just get told off by a badger in badger-language for being raucous.

"Chiriiiiii!!" Pay attention!

"Uh, sorry… little sparrow thing." Inuyasha felt like a little boy, being remonstrated for procrastination.

"Chir." Yasei.

"Oh… how do you do- HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE JEWEL?"

Yasei had picked the Jewel up and was hopping over to Kikyo and Kagome.

"Chrrrrrr…." Taking it to my mistress. Is that so wrong?

"YES! –what mistress?- Uhh Miroku help me out here!" Inuyasha turned to the monk for support.

"Listen, err, Yasei, we app-appreciate your help but if you could just give us the Jewel, well then, err, everything will be fine." The monk stuttered, wondering if it was actually sane fighting with a bird about possession of property won in battle.

"Chrrrr chhhrrrhrh." But this Jewel will revive her.

(It was hard to talk with a Sacred Jewel in your beak.)

"Huh WHAT? GIMME THAT!!" Inuyasha went into full dog-mode, scampering on fours after the little sparrow, who then did his best to hop faster, and made little jumps with his wings, but could not fly because the Jewel was too heavy.

It was perfectly comic. A fluttering sparrow, resembling a mini-chicken; a pretty Jewel in his beak, with wide eyes trying to get away from a half-breed dog-demon in funny red robes and the cutest ears… Both supplying sound effects, such as scared squeaks and intimidating growls – oh, and running around in small circles. Really, imagine it for yourself.

"As much as I'd love to watch this some more, please STOP!" Miroku commanded, since Sango, Shippo and Kirara were indisposed due to utter hysteria.

"Urf?' Inuyasha looked up from his Yasei-chase. "But I nearly got him..."

"Really."

"Heeey he's going again!" Inuyasha caught Yasei just as the bird was about to give Kikyo the Sacred Jewel.

"Chrrr rrr chr." (still hard to talk.) let me go! It's her soul anyway.

"But Yasei, how do you know she won't disappear like the other priestess?" Asked a confused Inuyasha.

"CHRRRRR!!!!!" Because it's HER soul that a) made the Jewel b) purified Tsubaki!!!

"Oh." Inuyasha thought a bit. Everyone gathered around the two priestesses. Inuyasha continued, "So… what about Kagome?"

"Chrrrrr –chr, Chiri?" What about her?

Yasei said, after spitting out the Jewel onto the ground in front of him, and stood glaring at all half-demon dogs who would try and steal it.

Inuyasha growled and shook the little bird by his tail feathers. "WHAT ABOUT HER? Her soul is in there too you know!!"

"Chiiiii…." Ohhh…

Yasei contemplated this new bit of information.

"Umm…" everyone looked at Sango, "Didn't Tsubaki say something about only… one of them coming back…?"

The sadness that had plagued them for the last month descended, harder than ever.

"I don't know, but… Inuyasha, I think you should choose." Sango ventured again.

"Choose WHAT?"

"Ahem, well…"

"WHAT WE MEAN IS, NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND, YOU TWO-TIMER!!!!" Yelled Shippo.

"Chi!" Right!

And Yasei dropped the Jewel into Inuyasha's open palm.

"WHAT??????? NO WAY!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha held out the Jewel. "Somebody else take it!"

Everyone took a step/hop back. Inuyasha stared at them, his mind clouding over. This was too much. Way too much. Everything had started catching up with him, and now it jumped on him in one big ambush.

"Maybe we went too far… After all, it's not something to joke about…" Sango whispered as Inuyasha dropped to the ground, frozen and staring straight ahead, mind whirling. She carefully took the Jewel from his hand, though still he didn't move.

"Right. Let's try cracking this thing in two."

"Umm Sango, that's how all this STARTED, remember? Sacred Jewel, breaking, shard collecting… you know the story."

"Yeah, but do we have a choice?" Sango stared at the two priestesses. One dead, one alive. "We can't choose one over the other, Miroku. You know it's wrong. Even if one is already dead… Her purpose here isn't really finished, is it? Who are we to argue with Destiny? Now COME ON. We want Kagome back, don't we?"

"Chi!" Kikyo too.

Miroku raised his eyebrows at Yasei.

'Chiii? Chiri." Whaaaat? She can be nice too. "Chiriri…." She saved my life you know…

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Awake, Kagome.

Inuyasha? Mom? Anyone?

Who do you love, Kagome?

Everyone. Not Naraku though, I really don't like him… I love my family, my cat, my friends, my other friends, and now sort-of Kikyo - somehow, she's not all that bad…

Really, Kagome? Anyone specific?

Only Inuyasha… But he loves Kikyo.

Emptiness.

Fade out.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Dang. We can't do it."

"Looks like only Sacred Arrows would work… And we don't want to go there again…"

"Is Inuyasha still… thinking?"

Miroku got up to look. The half-dog demon had recovered, only to jump into a tree and continue his staring process there.

"What the hell are we going to do, Miroku?" Sango muttered.

"Well, if worst comes to worst, we might have to… choose."

"Chiriri…." That's bad.

"I miss Kagome…" sniffed Shippo.

Sango sighed.

"Shippo, would you go get some firewood? I think we'll need it."

"OK…"

"Chiri?" Can I come?

"Sure…"

Sango was just staring blankly ahead. Miroku cleared his throat, then went on, "Sango… about the time you left…"

"Sorry."

"Huh?"

"What do you expect me to say?"

"Um... Not much actually. I need you to listen. I just want you to know… That there will always be something here for you. I mean… if not anything else, then I will always be here."

Sango's eyes widened, but still she kept staring straight ahead.

"That's all… really…" Miroku stood up and shuffled away, cursing circumstances under his breath.

Sango wouldn't budge for a long time, replaying those words in her head, and wondering when this living hell will end.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"What's up, blockhead?" Miroku was suddenly beside Inuyasha.

"When'd you get here?" Inuyasha had been dead to the world, and he wanted to remain so. "Leave me alone."

"Nah."

"Who has the Jewel?"

"I do."

"Oh." Inuyasha stared at the sunrise.

For a while, everything was really quiet. Until Shippo and Yasei came back with the firewood, that is.

"Chiri." Hey. "Chiriir! Chiiii chiriii." I've got an idea… How about we bring them back one at a time and ask which one of them wants to die?

Miroku and Inuyasha glared at Yasei. Until they realised that, it was actually a good idea, if not for the 'who wants to die' bit. Why not consult the actual people involved?

* * *

AN: I really wanted to end it with this chapter, but there's too much. GRR NEXT CHAPTER THEN!!!! (gosh I'm writing all this in one big chunk aren't I??)

AND AGGHH I think I totally died writing the Sango-Miroku bit. You can just tell I was uncomfortable. shudder romance is nice and all to read but PLEAAAASE never make me write anytihng like that ever again!


	20. Arguing With Destiny

AN: here we are… the supposed last chapter… oooooOOOoooo…

You know there's this wonderful song that I think might just be the theme for this entire tale. It's called, "Dead Alive" … (WOW how could I have ever connected THAT with this story I wonder…) by Eve of Destiny. For Malice Mizer fans – that's the band with that crazy guy Közi. Go malice. Even though they've broken up. No sorry, on HIATUS, as Mana (mwa mwa 3) put it. Ahhhh well twas good (?-ish?) while it lasted. And personally I don't see the difference between them and Moi Dix Mois… Oh! Except M10M don't have Gakkun.

SORRY ABOUT THE BLABBING!!!! Yes story here it comes.

* * *

CHAPTER 19: ARGUING WITH DESTINY

"Kagome! Kagome!! You there?"

"Urrm," Kagome blinked. It was the first time in aeons that she was back in her body and feeling… fine. Not deathly tired or nauseous, not fainting straight away, and finally surrounded by familiar faces.

"Yeah, I'm sort of here… If I'm not there, that is." Kagome shielded her eyes from that harsh real sun. At last she could feel it!

"Huh?" Chorused the crowd of worried onlookers. Had Kagome been dreaming too long?

"Oh nothing, hehe, don't worry. Just checking that this is all actually real. Because you see if it wasn't, none of you would have balked at strange comments."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." Despite the silly looks on their faces, Kagome was so happy to just be back again. Her mind didn't bother bringing up any recent events, just the fact that she was back among her friends. It completely skipped out on the whole Kikyo/Tsubaki/Jewel episode.

"Shippo! Sango! Miroku! Ah… Kirara!!!" With each name she gave them a huge sleepy hug, full of happy smiles and general oblivion to the circumstances. Kirara mildly protested against being treated like a fluffy cushion, but couldn't really help it because Kagome was just so… energised. Everyone around her caught her giddy happiness, as happens with overly confident happy people, and also forgot about whatever pressing issues they were meant to be dealing with. After repeatedly ruffling everyone's hair or fur to the same horrible condition hers was in, she jumped up and took a good long look at her surroundings. That's when she noticed the little sparrow hopping about a few feet away.

"Yasei?"

"Chirrrr." Finally, you notice.

Kagome couldn't really say anything. Her eyes had rested upon Kikyo's form, covered with a light blanket – the same cold real self she always had been. Kagome had just never really looked at her sleep.

She was so different when her eyes were closed and her face relaxed. Almost… like a normal person with a normal not-that-good-but-okay life. Like someone she could have trusted from the start if she'd only seen her face like this. Someone she didn't have to treat like an offence to humanity… Simply for existing. Someone she could… talk things out with.

"Chir chi chirr." Dog-boy's having a huffy fit.

"Huh? Oh yeah… Where is Inuyasha?" Kagome couldn't believe she had failed to notice he wasn't there. How stupid can one get?! A strange sense of urgency filled her. She needed to find him, NOW.

"Up in one of his trees. That way I think," said Sango, pointing to behind them.

"Thanks," Kagome set off running towards where Sango had indicated. It seemed really important for an unknown reason – she just had to see him.

"Wait, Kagome!" Miroku yelled. He didn't think Kagome would stop even if she did bother hearing him. "Damn it…" he said, watching the running figure of Kagome dwindling out in the light. "Someone needs to talk to her."

Next to them all, unregarded, Kikyo lay still as always. As if it was her body's sole objective to never move again. Who knows? Perhaps it was.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"_Inuyasha! Die!"_ The flash of the arrow, the surprising force with which he had been slammed back into the tree. Never had he felt as confused as at that moment. Confused at himself, confused at why Kikyo was hurt, confused as to why he had stopped moving, confused…

Counterbalancing this memory was another, softer one: the happy hum of his mind as it realised it could actually have a happy life with Kikyo, he didn't need to be an outcast… it could all be fine. Not perfect, but fine. Kikyo had promised him the Jewel, he had promised him his humanity. If Naraku hadn't come along, would it have been?

Or was Naraku's interruption into all their lives as unavoidable as meeting Kikyo herself? Was it a part of Fate that they could never be together? Or was it all a blessing in disguise…

Inuyasha shook his head to clear the last stupid thought. Though from then, he couldn't stop thinking about all the little things that had gone so totally wrong, and he didn't even notice, because for the second time in his life, he had been loved and accepted. But for what? For himself, or what he could offer (which he wasn't sure that he could anyway)?

Had he been accepted? Or had he just been wanted… And used… for another to be happy? There was the memory of Kikyo, how she had always regarded him not as Inuyasha, but as a half-demon. Even when she didn't say it: from the start, and till the every end. Naraku in the fields that day… he had just voiced out Inuyasha's obvious fear.

"_Half-breed!" _What would have changed with him becoming fully human? WHAT? What the hell had Kikyo wanted from him?

He punched the tree in frustration. Why couldn't everybody be clear? Why did they all turn into cheating, lying, - and most alarmingly – vulnerable creatures, just as vulnerable as he was, the moment he decided to think about them?

This is why he preferred not to think. The world turned into a horrible, desperate, scared place, where people used hate and spilt blood to gain love and new blood. Really. What was the whole giant fuss about?

"Ah! Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" A relieved-sounding voice came from beneath his tree.

Kagome. She had found him. She was alive. _Is that a good or a bad thing?_ His body answered for him as he instantly jumped down to meet her, saving her the problem of a) getting him out of his sulky mood and b) figuring out how to climb up the tree.

"Inu!!"

Kagome went straight for the lung-choking hug, fatal enemy of all males and little kids at family reunions. Was this a family reunion, and was he a little kid or a male? Both, in this case, judging from the little-kiddy rush of gladness at seeing her not comatose, as well as a sudden rush of blood to his cheeks; and Kagome was as close to family as he could ever wish for. Well. Maybe he could wish for a bit more, but that wasn't exactly appropriate in the choose-whether-you-or-Kikyo-will-die situation. And overall his family was just a great big disappointment so maybe it was better to keep things like this.

_No, seriously. One of them hangs out with a toad-thing. And one of them is a giant pile of bones, while the other died –and lived- in apparent misery. And he never even heard about any others. Oh yeah and another one abandoned the one with the toad. Not blaming her, but really, he WAS her son. She could have at least kept in touch. WHY THE HELL AM I GOING THROUGH MY LIST OF FREAKY RELATIONS???_

Inuyasha dropped the mental listing of his amazingly dysfunctional family. Did he mention that the one with the toad was the only one left he knew, who also wanted to kill him because their father –the bone pile- left HIM the nice sword? It wasn't HIS bloody fault that he was better so if that damned Sesshomaru wanted to come and fight for it could he please do it properly, without just turning up every once in a while and scaring the crap out of everybody with his toad?? And then promptly leaving without settling anything for sure, till the next time he wanted to bother them, didn't he have a life, and what was WITH the weird poofy thing-

"-and then I woke up and Kikyo was just lying there, I couldn't really do anything, while Tsubaki was muttering something about eternal beauty and world domination and I couldn't really stand it anymore – and you know, the scary thing was I didn't - I really didn't want to die. Not without seeing all of you first and even Kikyo! I wanted to tell Kikyo that I was sorry. Sorry for judging her. She's really okay when you're not around. I mean, oh, whatever. And I wanted to see you – and even if does all end, I want you to know that it was really, really nice being able to fight by your side, Inuyasha. It made me feel more like a real me than I had ever felt-"

"Kagome." Inuyasha held both of her wrists in his hands, looking down at her with golden amber eyes. He felt like he should say something… but couldn't really find anything but her name.

"Yeah..?" Kagome couldn't really focus on anything properly. She was exhausted - no food, no water, then that long run to find Inuyasha, and the whole speech... "Inuyasha, I feel dizzy."

Inuyasha could tell she was about to collapse on him in about five seconds flat. She didn't smell, look, or feel healthy at all. Looks like he'll just have to carry her back. To food, and water, and someone who actually knows how to take care of people, like Sango…

_Damn. Does this mean I have to think some more? I really don't want to think about any faults Kagome might have and turn her into another Inutaisho, another Kikyo, another Sesshomaru_ _– or really everyone I know who's let me down at some point._

_Except Kagome hasn't really let me down. Yet. One thing that sets her apart from Kikyo is she just doesn't really want anyone to be different from what they are. She believes in second chances and good in everyone. I suppose she must even feel PITY for Naraku at times. Oh I don't know. How come when I want to find something bad about somebody I can't?? Why the hell do I even want to think badly of Kagome anyway? _

_Still, it can't be denied. Kikyo… was the first person who looked at me and got to know me when they didn't have to. She saw through the demon part of me anyway. Are there even two halves of me? Or is it just an excuse that people use to outcast me?_

_Well I can be happy without them and their stupid rules. Kikyo and Kagome have both taught me that. _

Just then he approached his group, who were hanging around nervously waiting for him and Kagome to get back.

"What happened?" Sango asked, concerned, peering at the unconscious Kagome.

"Well, I think she hasn't eaten in a while. Or drank anything. In fact she should probably be dead by now…" Inuyasha ventured. Though it seems Tsubaki figured out a way to keep both Kikyo and Kagome alive while unconscious.

"Oh. Right. Here, I'll take care of her." Sango instantly went into protective mother-hen mode, and fussing over Kagome for the remainder of the day, all the while muttering why she hadn't stuffed Kagome full of food before... By then, Kagome had woken up and was not feeling all that bad after food, water and the comforting company. Shippo wouldn't stop complaining about Inuyasha, and spicing up his conversation with "I missed you so much!" every now and then. Even Yasei settled into the group by amiably chatting up other fowls around the place, and keeping a continuous host of fluttering wings about.

Everything was almost as if she had never disappeared with Kikyo at all. If it wasn't for a sombre Inuyasha, an unconscious Kikyo, a clearly worried pair of Miroku and Sango, an unsettled Kirara, and a Shippo that didn't even try to annoy the hell out of Inuyasha – she could have just believed she was Jewel-hunting as if nothing had happened.

Casting a worried glance at Kikyo, Kagome huddled around the fire with her friends, staring blankly into the fire while Miroku and Sango explained things to her.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

I can change things if I want. Was that your point? I can go back and change.

Kikyo remembered drawing the Sacred Arrow, feeling utterly lost and betrayed. Her only link to happiness had been shattered, and when that hope had died, the image of Kikyo as she had known herself – it had shattered like a twisted reflection in a breaking mirror. She hadn't planned any of it. She had wanted to catch up to Inuyasha – and at least get something sorted out. Sadly, in her case 'sorted' as applied to demons was different to what it meant for humans.

Especially demons that double crossed her. Still, she saved him. That much had been obvious. The real Kikyo must have shone through the confusion and the hatred somehow, because she knew that she could never kill Inuyasha.

He wasn't hers to kill.

Really?

I don't know.

But he had always felt… too distant for her. A dream that could only be glimpsed at. No matter if she wanted him or if he had even wanted her back, there was like an invisible barrier that had separated them. She had thought it was because he was half-demon. So she wanted to make him fully hers. A human.

Then they could live happily ever after…

Unfelt tears once again spilt onto Kikyo's face in the dark void. She didn't care.

She knew.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"Stop." It was barely a whisper, but everyone could hear Kagome's word anyway.

After explaining the bare gist of things - Miroku, Inuyasha, Yasei, Shippo and Sango had gotten into a major debate about what should happen now. None of them really wanted to talk to Kikyo, except Yasei and Inuyasha – which started an entire saga of pros and cons on Kikyo's value as a human being. Which she wasn't, but the group was too inflamed to notice. Sango thought that Inuyasha would just use this as a chance to completely run away with Kikyo, while Miroku felt she should give Kikyo a chance – she's too smart for that. Meanwhile Inuyasha said he'd do no such thing – and was Miroku agreeing with Sango? How dare he! Shippo thought the dead broad could just stay that way – and Yasei said Shippo shouldn't talk like that, and really it escalated into a huge raucous half-brawl, pausing only when Kagome spoke up.

Everyone had now turned to Kagome, who still staring into the fire as she had at the start. "I think Kikyo should choose."

Taking a deep breath, she continued. "It would be unfair of us to choose life or death for anything over me – let alone someone we don't even know… and could never hope to understand. Out of all of us, I'd say she was the wisest." Kagome looked around for someone to disagree. No one did. Not openly anyway.

"Which is why I think we should talk to her as quickly as possible. If anything is decided, tell me… okay?" Her frightened eyes looked at these dear people once again, and before anyone could do anything she reached and took out her Sacred Jewel.

Kagome's body collapsed without the Jewel, which lay shining in her outstretched hand.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Everyone leaned over Kikyo as she woke up. Technically, just as Kagome was dehydrated and starving – Kikyo should have been needing souls. But she didn't. Because she had her soul. And Kagome's, though really they were one. So actually, Kikyo was the lucky one out of the whole ordeal fatigue-wise.

That didn't stand for much though, and was generally unnoticed by the onlookers.

"Kikyo…" Inuyasha said. He seemed to be thinking a lot, and was staring at Kikyo's face, though not really seeing it. Some people – Sango – translated this into unfaithfulness to Kagome, and promptly slapped Inuyasha on the cheek and took him aside for a Talk, which Inuyasha didn't pay the slightest attention to, still lost in the past and the future.

Meanwhile Kikyo stood up and dusted her clothes off, which were not entirely dirty – but close. She looked at the circle of beings around her, then at Sango and Inuyasha a bit off, and finally down to Yasei, who decided that everyone else had promptly lost their wits and that he was the only one who could properly explain things.

"Chirr!" Hiya!

"Where's Kagome, Yasei?" Kikyo chose to ignore everyone else, which irked the ignored very much.

"Chir chii chi chichirr…" Well, currently unconscious….

And while Yasei told a shortened version of events around the bofire – it was getting dark; Kikyo listened and nodded to parts she'd figured out herself. After a bit even Sango stopped glaring openly at her, though not for long. She'd seen Miroku getting his ready-to-make-the-child-bearing-speech-look, and turned her glare upon him instead. Miroku decided this was one opportunity he could pass on, considering that Inuyasha was getting as defensive as Sango. Well, honour among thieves… he'd stay away from Kikyo.

Kikyo politely ignored the silent looks exchange, and turned her attention to Yasei instead, currently going over all the possible ways of breaking out of this predicament. For a little bird, he sure knew a lot.

"So while you had the Jewel, both Kagome and I remained unconscious… only to be woken up once given the Jewel, right?"

"Chirr…" Yes…

"Chiri chii chiri." And we couldn't find a way to split the Jewel.

Kikyo sighed.

_Just like I thought…A decision has to be made. _She looked over to Inuyasha, who was now fidgeting uncomfortably with the seams in his sleeves, and felt nothing, but a hundred pangs of regret. _He has changed._ _I have changed… But not in a way that would benefit us together. _

_Or would it? Is there still hope? _Just as these rebellious little thoughts of Kikyo's mind broke in, she caught Inuyasha looking over at Kagome in that deep sleep, his face softening, catching the moonlight. Their childlike faces were like mirrors – which reflecting the other, it was unclear. Kagome was no doubt dreaming of Inuyasha, while Inuyasha watched and, and no doubt thought only of Kagome.

This was not entirely true. Inuyasha was indeed thinking of Kagome, but of Kikyo as well. How Kagome was more open than Kikyo; more comforting but also more hurtful when she chose, more dependable – yet unpredictable at times, less worrying but so much more troublesome than he had ever dared dream.

Inuyasha was surprised. Did he really just… compare between the two? It had seemed impossible for him to decide. But now that Kikyo WAS at his side and Kagome wasn't… it was like that knife that had been carving his heart had suddenly left; taking along his heart as well. He couldn't exactly feel anymore… A numbness set over all of him. Perhaps that was why he could think straight without reckless emotions getting in the way… And his mind had decided, in the absence of feeling, that somehow before it left, his heart had decided on Kagome.

But he knew that that wasn't possible either. He couldn't have Kagome; just like he couldn't have Kikyo at the start. Kikyo wanted him back; and it was his obligation to go. It never really mattered who he liked more; Kikyo was the default. Because he owed her so much. Now he was indebted to her and she was indebted to him; leaving no space for any others even though both might want to break free from this cruel contract. And she had died because of him… If only they'd had more faith in each other perhaps things would have gone differently.

Perhaps. Or was it fate?

He glanced towards Kikyo, who was startled by him seeing her staring at him staring at Kagome, and turned away quickly looking elsewhere, only to unnerve the rest of the group who had been startled by her seeing them staring at her staring at Inuyasha staring at Kagome.

A long, grave, awkward silence ensued in which even Yasei and Shippo kept their mouths shut. Everyone averted everyone else's eyes, except for Miroku and Shippo who shared a mutual gaze of long-suffering embarrassment of male involvement in emotional issues which they weren't really a part of.

Kikyo stood up then; deciding to break the silence before it broke someone first, possibly herself. "Ah, Inuyasha… I need to talk to you… Shall we take a walk?"

Inuyasha stared dumbly at Kikyo, unsure of what to do until Sango and Miroku had to physically pull him up, and shove him. "And, bring her." Kikyo gestured towards the sleeping Kagome. "I fear this talk will involve three of us."

Puzzled, but since he was beyond being puzzled any more by recent events, Inuyasha complied. This involved a tricky and difficult manipulation of hefting Kagome up into his arms and then trying to look decent about it.

They walked away quietly, disappearing into a little track into the forest.

The two of them, Kikyo and Inuyasha – had nothing, really, to say to each other. Everything they might have wanted to, they'd already said a thousand times to the Inuyasha or Kikyo in their head. Nevertheless, Kikyo had to get a hundred different things in her head out before she could continue.

"Am I dead or alive?" she asked Inuyasha.

As always, talking to Kikyo felt like a strain. "Alive, I suppose. Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"No, to you. Kikyo the priestess that you knew – is she dead or alive to you?"

"Dead." Inuyasha was surprised at the answer – did he truly think that? Was it because Kikyo had just referred to herself in the third person? Did even she think so?

Kikyo was surprised too. His honesty was always cutting, but she didn't know she could still feel pain. Especially pain from something she knew was coming. And also – she wasn't living on hate any longer. The moment she had entered Tsubaki's realm her soul – had moved on. It had started blending with Kagome's portion of soul, finally making a pure, untainted Jewel, which she had now. Urasue's –and in a way, Tsubaki's – curse was finally lifted. Was she… free?

She felt a strange sense of elation at this. It was unbelievable. Had she really escaped the circumstances which bound her to her sad Destiny?

One look at Inuyasha though, and she wasn't so sure. Kagome's soul had freed her; but now her own heart held her back. Yes. This was not finished. Will it always be herself she has to blame for her mistakes? She knew she could leave now. But, as always – she wouldn't.

"Inuyasha, remember I said, that the day I die, is the day that you will die?"

"Yes." Inuyasha's voice felt disconnected; he seemed to be unable of coming to terms with what Kikyo was suggesting at while Kagome was in his arms. He had always thought of himself as living on borrowed time, at least until Naraku was dead and then he'd leave with Kikyo…

"Ah." Kikyo paused, unsure of how to say what she wanted to say next. "But yet you said that I am already dead."

Inuyasha wasn't at all sure where she was going with this. They both knew that this was going to end with them dying at either Naraku's hands – or in the flames of hell, together. Whatever is she on about??

"I think, Inuyasha… we both cling to what has never been."

_You reckon??? _Inuyasha fumed inside, his heart slowly reappearing with the short burst of anger. _Wasn't that obvious from the start?_

"I most of all."

_Oh… A repentant Kikyo? This is different. _

"Our paths crossed and intertwined, almost to the point of becoming one, until that day fifty years ago. I think, Inuyasha, you have already done everything you could for me."

Kikyo turned her life-like bright eyes on him, trying her hardest to say what she felt.

"I'm grateful. You have already been through hell with me, don't you see? Though it was tragic and ended full of hatred, my time with you, alive, was the first time in my life I _felt_ alive."

She turned away, gazing at the stars as they continued their walk. "And the day you and I both believed we were betrayed by each other, was meant to be the happiest day of my life. The day I could be just a woman. But that wasn't how it turned out. And the only hope of me ever becoming happy, of fulfilling my duty and resting with peace, was dashed. The Kikyo that was within me, the Kikyo that just wanted to be free – she died. Her soul died, not just her body. When I was brought back, all that was left was hatred. Lost within my own abyss."

"Though now, I feel no hatred. Kagome has given me peace. She is… the person I could never be. She is the one I would have become once the Jewel was gone. Though I know I am more a part of her than she is a part of me. She is the beginning, somehow, of my story, rather than the ending."

"So… it is with her, that I leave my final wishes. She may not know them, but her heart - and her soul do. Kagome… please live the life I never did."

"Oh, and Inuyasha – I probably shouldn't have to tell you, but… Never make the same mistake twice." And here Kikyo smiled a mischievous smile that was somehow all Kagome, and leaned forward towards Inuyasha over Kagome, catching the poor dog-demon unawares by the lips.

Before he could react – in whichever way – she swiftly broke off the kiss and turned away.

"This is the belated goodbye, Inuyasha." Alone, Kikyo began the dark walk back, leaving a blundering, cherry-faced Inuyasha with Kagome.

With nothing left to feel – and nothing left to live – Kikyo seemed to evaporate before the eyes. Little shining bubbles of soul-particles left her fading form to rejoin with Kagome's, until there as a myriad of little shining spheres bobbing their way through the dark like enchanted lanterns lighting the way from Kikyo to Kagome.

The last Inuyasha saw of Kikyo, she was exactly as he had remembered her all these years- a solitary figure walking steadily. Alone, always alone…

_Kagome… Even before you were, you were what I strived to be. Was I indeed the rough draft? _Though this was her last thought, Kikyo didn't need an answer. Peace was hers at last… And she was giving Hell a miss, this time.

Fate had brought them together; Fate had separated them, and Fate had given them a second chance. These Gods were too much.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

"I can't see! What's happening?"

"Shh!"

"Miroku, your staff is in my face!"

"MIROKU-!" _SLAP!_

"DID SHE JUST KISS HIM?"

"AHHH YUCKKK!"

"Oh dear."

"Oh my."

"Can you see his face?"

"No- hey, she's walking away!"

"WHAT? Where? With the Jewel?"

"Chiri!" Shut up!

"Piu, piu piu PIUUU!"

"Oh sorry, Kirara - was that your tail?"

"Miroku, stop harassing everyone!"

"Holy Monks…"

"WHAT NOW?"

"She's evaporating. Or something."

"WHAAAAAAAA-?"

"Who?"

"Chiriririiririririirchichicihichicriirrhichihcichihc—" (this was untranslatable as Yasei seemed to go into a hiccuping fit.)

"Whoa, is the bird okay? You okay, Yasei?"

"Chi. Chiriiri…" Fine. Just got a funny worm stuck in my throat.

"Ew."

"Kikyo! She's… turning into soul particles!"

"I. CAN'T. SEEE!!!!!!!!"

"I can. She's… she's turning into shiny lights... slowly. Like when you kill a demon, only... slower… and prettier."

"I can sense her… Her soul is indeed departing."

"To where?"

"Um. Oh. Back into Lady Kagome."

At this point, the entire group overbalanced – they were all leaning forward and on each other as much as possible in order to see the goings-on – and fell out of the bushes they had been spying from.

Luckily, Inuyasha didn't notice. Even luckier, he had not noticed them the whole way as they had followed him and Kikyo and eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Inuyasha himself was too amazed at what was going on. What WAS going on? It seemed that Kikyo was… Disintegrating, and – _Hey! Kagome's waking up!_

"Kagome!" Forgetting the Kikyo-business, Inuyasha softly lowered Kagome to the ground, head propped against a tree as her eyes fluttered open.

She smiled painfully. "Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha got even redder as he realised how close his face was. He abruptly jerked back, straight into everyone else as they were approaching him and Kagome.

"Ouch! Watch it!" Miroku rubbed his sore head from where it impacted with Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Keh."

"How's Kagome?" Asked Shippo. "Kagome, Kagome, what happened? Do you want some water? Anything?"

"No thanks Shippo, I'm… fine. Just fine, now." Kagome smiled again. She wasn't sure what had happened, but she felt pretty good. Better than she had in days.

As the group settled down in that spot, most worrying about food and getting a fire going, Miroku sat down beside Kagome and Inuyasha, who had refused to budge from Kagome's side. "Kagome… You know that Kikyo… Well, she…"

"Left? Yeah. I could tell."

"I don't think she's gone anywhere," muttered Inuyasha under his breath, but too low for the others to hear.

They sat in silence after that, watching the sky., moon, stars...

"So… I have to ask. Where has Kikyo gone?"

"She… Well, Kagome, she simply… purified herself."

"What?"

"She purified herself, finally freeing her soul to go where it belonged."

"So, she went to Hell?" Kagome asked, with a trace of remorse.

"No. The soul returned to you."

"She wanted you to live the life she couldn't, Kagome." Inuyasha suddenly spoke up. "You are the one she wanted to be. You are the woman the priestess couldn't be. She left… so you could stay." _With me, _he added silently._ Damn Naraku. His guts are so dead… _

"Oh…" Kagome looked up into the sky. "I guess she's free to do whatever she likes now."

"Yes, Kagome. Whatever she likes. Destiny... can't control her anymore." Smiled Inuyasha.

* * *

AN: …. This is my interpretation of Kikyo. What I think she felt, dealt with, why she did things… I guess you could say it's my tribute to the Kikyo of old, and her final peace-making with her other self – Kagome. I just really reckon she doesn't deserve Hell, hence this entire fic. It starts out in accordance with the original storyline… but as you can see, it ends different. 

yah it's a long chapter. I wanted SO BAD to finish this, and wow, guess I did. PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!!! Tell me!!!! Everything! Was the conclusion satisfactory? Not? Too bland? Expecting bigger action? Was it an okay wrap-up? TIPS?? ONEGAI with cute Shippo-voice! Thankyou to EVERYONE who instructed/commented/helped me on the way. Really. It was appreciated. I'm sure I've told you all how I drool at reviews… Please review. No really. Please. Even if this is like, three years after I finished this. I love you even if you don't review, but review anyway. Feel free to ask one and many questions about the one and many random things that happened without cause in this fic. Such as the whole in-cave-weird-episode. I promise I'll answer them… or at least reply. Now, bye. Till the next time I get inspiration to write something.

Disclaimer/whatsits-I-do-not-hate-Sesshy-note: all views expressed thereby in this chapter against a certain youkai lord are not necessarily of the author of this FINISHED (OH YAH BABY!!!) fic, only of the character's as perceived by said author... even though the real author is Rumiko Takahashi... oh who cares?? I LOVE FLUFFY!!!


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